Elemental One-Shots
by Animation Universe 2005
Summary: My very first set of one-shots starring Musaki, Arizona and the Elemental Hazards. Dedicated to SpiritualLoneWolf XIII. Hope ya like it!
1. Meeting the Phoenix Warrior

Welcome to my first ever series of one-shots starring Musaki, Arizona and the Elemental hazards plus Hope and Kaizer. This is dedicated to SpiritualLoneWolf XIII and I hope you like these!

* * *

Meeting the Phoenix Warrior

by: Terrell James

It's just any other day in the Jade Palace and Musaki was sitting at the Sacred Peach Tree, just looking at the skies, feeling the wind blowing through his fur and he felt like he was at peace. It had been 2 months since he met Takami and his friends and the fact that he's met a group of friends like him made it all the more awesomer than ever.

Just then, Arizona comes by and he sees Musaki sitting there and he knows it's one of those 'Musaki's quiet moments' and he sat down next to him and Musaki noticed that Arizona was sitting there. He smiled at said, "Peach?"

"Nah, I just ate." Arizona replied.

"Dude, you're 18. How much could you eat?" asked Musaki.

Musaki began laughing a little bit and Arizona chuckled lightly at this joke and Arizona's response was, "Very funny, Saki."

"What's on your mind?" asked Musaki.

Arizona lets out a big sigh and he said, "Well...Takami told me to tell you to come by to the Sacred Hall of Warriors."

He looks up at the grey wolf and asked, "What for?"

"He said something about meeting this new Phoenix Warrior." Arizona responded.

"Phoenix Warrior?" asked Musaki, in confusion.

Arizona motioned him to come with him and as soon as both of them made it to the Hall of Warriors, they saw Shifu there with Takami, Tigress and the rest of the Hazards and just then, Shifu said, "You've made it. Musaki...meet the Phoenix Warrior."

As Musaki braced himself for who it could be, in comes a young 15-16 year old brown bear with brown eyes, standing 5'4, weighing at 145 pounds and wearing orange pants standing there and he said, "Hello."

Musaki was surprised to see this and he asked, "You're the Phoenix Warrior?"

"Yeah, hard to believe, huh? My name's Hope Xing-Fu Haruki, but you can call me Hope." the brown bear said, as he brought out his hand.

Musaki widened his eyes at that middle name and he chuckled, saying, "You've got my birth name, dude."

Musaki shook Hope's hand and then, Hope asked, "So, you're name is Xing-Fu, too?"

"Yeah, only that's the first name of my full birth name. Everyone around here calls me Musaki." Musaki explained.

"Cool. What is your full name?" asked Hope.

"Xing-Fu Musaki Ko-Kanji Bushido-Akio Meng Cheng Xi-Wang."

Hope dropped his jaw in shock after hearing the full name and he said, "Whoa, that's a long name."

Musaki nodded his head and he said, "I'm still in awe over the fact that I've got 9 names."

Takami looks over to Ryo and muttered, "I thought it was more than that."

Hope then clears his throat and he said, "Well...anyways...it's pretty awesome to meet you. I guess I better get used to this whole Phoenix Warrior thing, huh?"

"Oh, it's only the beginning." Shifu stated.

Just then, Layla asked Shifu, "Has anyone seen Kaizer?"

Takami rolled his eyes at that question and he responds, "Knowing Kaizer, he might be still asleep or just spending another day in the training hall."

Arizona clears his throat and he asked, "Who's Kaizer?"

"It's a long story." Skyler replied.

Minutes later, they went into the training hall and they see this young white tiger; 17 years of age, standing at 5'5, weighing at 150 pounds, blue eyes and wears a black vest with grey sweatpants and small chains wrapped around his wrists on top of his black wristbands just training a little bit, punching a dummy of the Dragon Warrior as hard as he goes.

"And I thought Tigress had a bad mood." Musaki muttered.

Soon enough, Kaizer turns around and sees most of the Hazards standing there and he said, "Guess you found me."

Hope comes in and he said, "Hey, Kaizer. How's it going?"

"Training. What do you think I'm doing?" asked Kaizer.

Hope looks over and he said, "Come meet some new buds. This is Musaki and this is...what's your name again?"

"I'm Li-Xiao Arizona, but just call me Arizona for short." Arizona replied.

Kaizer shook both of their hands and he said, "Name's Kaizer Beelzabub."

Musaki snickered at the last name and he asked, "Beelzabub? Funny name."

Kaizer glared at Musaki and he asked him, "Is that a problem with you?"

Musaki then clears his throat and he replied, "No. I don't mean to laugh at all. I'm just a little bit tickled by it."

Takami then tells Musaki, "Don't mind Kaizer. This is one of his moods."

"How did you meet this guy?" asked Arizona.

Takami takes a deep breath and told him, "I'll tell ya...after Hope was selected as Phoenix Warrior, this guy like was an assassin sent by to find the Phoenix Warrior and bring him down...but as soon as he came to the Valley of Peace to do his duties, he got a little bit sidetracked when Felicity came to his life and boom! She turned him into a little softie."

Kaizer groans at this and he said, with gritted teeth, "I am not a softie."

Takami rolled his eyes and turned to Musaki and said, "He has a crush on her. He's embarassed to admit it."

That made Kaizer blush out of nowhere, but was a little bit annoyed by this and he said, "Moving on..."

"So...we all had this competition that we were gonna be part of in Gongmen City and prior to leaving, Kaizer ended up in the dungeon of our palace and it took Shifu some serious convincing that if he were to live here, he'd at least try to change his ways and redeem himself to tag along on the trip." Takami continued.

"On one stop, I wanted to get to know Kaizer a little more and he was a little withdrawn at first, but he almost opened up to me and we became friends after that. Well...Kaizer slowly got used to me, but I got used to him very quickly...even Faith liked him and we earned his respect as he earned ours and his own." Hope added.

Kaizer then tells Musaki and Arizona, "I always thought friendship never existed and makes you weak, but once I felt it...I sorta made a promise to myself that I would not do any harm to the Valley of Peace after I met Felicity."

"I bet you kissed her." Arizona said, with a snicker.

"No. She's just...a very nice girl." Kaizer denied.

"Sure she is." everyone of the Hazards responded.

Musaki chuckled at this and he said, "I have a feeling we're gonna get along with each other just fine."

* * *

SpiritualLoneWolf XIII, I hope you like this one! Forgive me if I made a few mistakes with Kaizer and I hope this wouldn't put spoilers to 'Phoenix Warrior'. There's more coming up soon!


	2. Group of Cubs

Thanks for the responses I've gotten for the series of one-shots. I'll keep making them as long as you're willing to read them. For this chapter, I brought Max in.

* * *

Group of Cubs

The same day, Samurai takes Max over by the Jade Palace to see his cousin Musaki and his wolf brother Arizona for a couple of hours and as soon as they made it, Samurai takes a deep breath and said, "Those stairs are not meant for a panda like me."

"Probably because you eat so much." Max answered.

Samurai glares at Max for a second regarding that comment and lets out a very sarcastic laugh and said, "Very funny, Maxie. And FYI, I don't eat that much."

They made their way over to the courtyard and Samurai sees Musaki and Takami just talking on the steps and he said, "Yo, cuz!"

Musaki looks over and he saw Samurai coming in and said, "What up, Sammy? How ya been?"

Samurai sets Max down on the ground and he said, "Dude, why do you guys have so many freakin' stairs?"

"We ask that same question each day." Musaki answered.

Then, Musaki looks down and he sees Max standing there and he said, "Hey, Maxie. How ya doing?"

"Pretty good." Max replied.

Musaki looks at him and recognized that he's getting a little bit taller and he said, "You're growing into a big cub, aren't ya?"

"Mm-hmm."

"You guys remember Takami, right?" asked Musaki.

Samurai looks at Takami and he was definitely familiarized with him and he said, "Sup, Kami-Kam?"

"Not much, Samurai. You?" asked Takami.

Samurai chuckled softly and he said, "About to head to Mr. P's for work. And please call me either Sam, Sammy, Rai or Samson. Either way, I'm good."

Takami nodded his head in understanding and then, Samurai said to Musaki, "Is it cool if Max stays here while I go to work? I may be working a little later today so if you or Arizona could take him back to our place, that'd be cool."

"Of course. We'll look after him." Musaki added.

"Awesome. I owe you big. See ya later." Samurai said, walking off.

Max waved 'bye' to him before Samurai left and after that, Max asked, "So...where's Arizona?"

"Arizona's in the training hall with Kovu and the others." Takami answered.

When all three of them arrived inside, Arizona couldn't help but feel excited to see his tiger brother coming in to visit and he said, "Hey, Max. How's it going, buddy?"

Max comes over and gives Arizona a huge hug and Max replied, "I'm doing okay."

Suddenly, in comes Kovu and Borko right behind Arizona and Kovu was the most excited to see Max and he said, "Hi, Max!"

"Hey, Kovu." Max said, with a smile.

Borko went to him and he said, "Hi, Max."

"Hey, Borko. You okay?" asked Max.

"Uh-huh."

Kovu looks over to Borko and he tells Max, "He's starting to get used to you now."

Arizona chuckled at this and he said, "Is that right? Because when he first met me, he thought I was a monster or something."

"That's just how Borko is when he meets new people." Kovu stated.

Not long after, Arizona was about to teach Max a few things about self-defense and Max seemed a bit reluctant about that, but assured him that it's got nothing to do with fighting, but to defend yourself whenever possible. With Kovu and Borko beside him, Max seemed very comfortable with the teaching process. Arizona brought in some defense moves to use for self-defense to show it to the three cubs and once they got it down pat, all three tested it on each other.

Although it may be a little bit unusual for an 8-year old cub to learn self-defense.

Sometime later, all three cubs were outside playing a bit of hide and seek and as Max was counting, Borko and Kovu began hiding in some parts of the training hall and when it came time to find them, Max searched all through parts of the courtyard and he saw Kovu's tail sticking out and Max became very sneaky to catch him and he grabbed ahold of Kovu's tail and shouted, "Caught ya!"

Soon enough, Kovu stuck his head out and he said to Max, "That was cold."

Max chuckled softly and he whispered, "Let's go find Borko."

They nodded their heads in agreement and set out to find the Siberian tiger themselves and they snuck around as they spotted a tiger's tail coming from behind and soon enough, both of them grabbed ahold of the tail and as they popped out, they found that the tail belonged to Tamaki. Tamaki looks down at both of them and asked, "Mind if I ask why you guys are tugging my tail?"

Kovu and Max looked at each other and said, "Whoops."

"We thought you were Borko." Kovu said.

They heard some snickering coming from behind and both of them knew it was Borko and both of them tackled him from behind. All three cubs were laughing with each other and Tamaki lets out a small smile and thought to himself, 'To be a young cub again...'

Borko, Max and Kovu were chasing each other around the courtyard and as Arizona, Takami and Musaki looked over, they could see that all three cubs are having fun with each other. Musaki said to Arizona, "Looks like they're having fun."

"Yeah, pretty awesome to see." Arizona agreed.

* * *

Sorry if I made it short, but I hope it interested you. More coming soon!


	3. Wolf Differences

Musaki tries to examine the difference between Alpha and Omegas as well as Ryo and Kiba's 'friendship'. If I screwed both of their personalities up, I apologize.

* * *

Wolf Differences

Throughout most of the day, Musaki has kept a close eye on Ryo and Kiba and he's starting to become curious about how they always get on each other's nerves constantly and it always ends up with Ryo losing his cool each time one little thing Kiba does get under his skin. But the one notice that puts Musaki's curiosity into overdrive is this whole Alpha and Omega dilemma and why there are many differences between these two wolves.

"Hey, Ry." Kiba stated.

Ryo lets out a heavy sigh and replied, "What, Kiba?"

"How'd you like your new nickname?" asked Kiba.

Ryo turns to Kiba and he replied, "What nickname?"

"Ry. I thought that it would fit you...like when people say 'Ryo', I can call you 'Ry' because it sounds cooler than Ryo." Kiba replied.

"Kiba...even if I shortened my name, it really wouldn't make sense to call me that." Ryo replied.

"Aw, come on Ry!"

Ryo started to get a little agitated over this and he said, "Dude, it's Ryo! Enough with the 'Ry' crap!"

"Cran-ky." Kiba said.

Ryo lets out a very serious growl and said, "I'm only cranky because you keep bugging me with this nickname! Ryo's an enough nickname for me."

Musaki could see that this was going to get a little bit too further and as he kept staring at them, Kiba suddenly took notice of that and he said, "Hey, you okay, Saki?"

"Yeah. I don't mean to intrude or anything...but I have to ask; are you guys always like this?" asked Musaki.

Ryo turns to Musaki and he replied, "Some occasions, yes."

Musaki comes towards both wolves and he asked them, "Are you sure you guys are best friends? It sounds like you're more like frenemies or something like that."

Ryo shrugged at that comparison for a second and he said, "We're not really frenemies, but we're not in that BFF stage either. It's sort of an either we like each other or we can't stand each other kind of friendship."

"It's this whole Alpha and Omega stereotypical thing. Even though I am an Alpha, I don't hold a higher ranking within any types of wolves. I'm like the only Alpha wolf that doesn't put down other Omegas because of it. Ryo's just too caught up in his own stereotypes and I feel as if we all should have some equality and know that no other dog ranks higher than the other." Kiba explains.

Musaki tilted his head to the side and he said, "For some reason...that almost made a little bit of sense."

Ryo lets out a sigh and he said, "It's not that I hate Kiba. He just gets on my case a little bit...well that and I had a bad experience with one Alpha when I was at the orphanage with Takami and Skyler when we were kids. This guy named Markus...he was a friend to Kami and Sky and I thought that we'd get along, but I was proven wrong when he told me that he was gonna steal them away from me because he was an Alpha and he hated each other's guts as well. Takami eventually found out and Skyler knew how Alphas and Omegas are and Markus was sent to juvenile hall and I've had a hatred for Alpha's ever since."

"Ryo...that's not me nor will it ever be me. I just wish the stereotypical-ness would just stop and we'd all come together as one." Kiba said.

Ryo wanted to agree on that, but his heart wasn't really willing to come to terms with it and he said, "I wish I could believe it, but I can't go through that again."

Musaki then told him, "You know what I think? You guys are like brothers...when when you're not related by blood."

"I doubt it." Ryo added.

Kiba happily disagreed with that and he started singing a little tune to brighten Ryo's situation.

_Ya gotta keep ya head up_

_Whoa-oh_

_And you can let ya hair down_

_Yea-ah_

_Ya gotta keep ya head up_

_Whoa-oh_

_And you can let ya hair down_

_Yeah-ah_

Ryo lets out a heavy sigh as Kiba kept singing to keep it upbeat and Ryo turns to Musaki and said, "This is what I have to deal with."

"But you gotta admit, he's a cool person." Musaki stated.

As Kiba continues dancing around, Ryo lets out a little smile and even though Kiba gets under his fur a lot, he does admit that there are things about Kiba that are cool and he said, "I guess you're right."

"At some point, you two are gonna need each other. You may not realize it now, but when something goes down, you two will have to back each other up on times of need." Musaki explained.

Ryo was silent for a second because he knew Musaki was right and all he could do is let out a deep sigh and ask him, "How'd you get the wisdom?"

"I've been here for 4 years. You've got to live with it." Musaki admitted.

Just then, Kiba comes in and he asked, "So...what are we talking about?"

Ryo rolled his eyes at Kiba and he asked, "When do you not sneak on us?"

"Just wanting to know."

Musaki knew that these two are opposites of each other, but he lets out a slight laugh and he said to Ryo, "Can't live with him, can't live without him."

"Like I said, all I have to deal with." Ryo stated.

* * *

HOw what that? Also, the song is 'Gotta Keep Ya Head Up' from Andy Grammer. There are more one-shots coming your way!


	4. Sparring with Hope and Kaizer

SpiritualLoneWolf XIII had suggested this particular chapter where Musaki gets to spar with Hope and Kaizer. Hope this interests you. Sorry if I didn't put any elemental owers to showcase there. I needed to wait until later on.

* * *

Sparring with Hope and Kaizer

Sometime later, Shifu had assigned Musaki to spar with Hope and after hearing this, Hope was definitely up to the challenge and he had a good feeling about this. As they faced each other in the training hall, they looked up at each other like they're ready to see who will stand out among the best.

"May the best warrior win." Musaki remarked.

"What you said." Hope said, with a smirk on his face.

Shifu snapped his finger and almost immediately, Hope charged at him head-on and did a punch to Musaki's face, but Musaki got himself back up and completely sparred with the brown bear like it was nobody's business and did some insane flips, kicks, punches and twists at him. Hope struck him down with all his might and kicked Musaki straight to the jaw.

Musaki got himself back up and he leaped towards Hope as he was chasing him and landed on the ground and kicks Hope in the face, causing him to fall down on the ground. The brown bear gets himself back up on his feet and continued to spar Musaki down and Musaki did the same thing as well.

Soon enough, Hope tries to make any effort to bring him to defeat, but he was soon outsmarted by Musaki when he got down on the ground and spun his entire body around, kicking Hope in the face numerous times, then he kicked Hope in the shin as he got up. Musaki then picks him up by the wrist and starts slamming him down in different places.

But Hope did a flip above the ground and kicked Musaki straight in the back and continues kicking him and the final strike is where Hope kicks Musaki in the jaw, causing him to fall down to the ground. Hope checks to make sure he's defeat, but unbeknownst to him, Musaki had another surprise up on his sleeve. He grabs Hope's wrist and threw him to the wall and completely kicked him in the face.

They both get up and as they looked at each other, they bowed to each other and Shifu came in and said, "Very impressive. It seems as though you've held your own against the Phoenix Warrior. Hope, that was excellent on your part."

"Thanks, Shifu." Hope replied.

Next up, Musaki squares off against Kaizer and as the white tiger puts on a serious face, Musaki said, "What up, Beelzabub?"

That simple comment made Kaizer growl and he said, "You do realize you're asking for it."

Kaizer immediatelycharged at him and punched him down, kicked him in the face and swung him around towards the wall, but Musaki released him from his grip and kicks Kaizer in the face hard. Both of them continued to spar with each other and Kaizer continued to slam him down hard, but Musaki knew his ability to stay cool under pressure.

Musaki jumps up in the air and grabs onto the railings of the training hall and that seemed to irritate Kaizer a little bit and he shouted, "Get down from there!"

"Whatever you say." Musaki answered.

Musaki swung his entire body around the railings and Kaizer was on the verge of losing his patience and he said, "Are you gonna come down before I kick your...?"

What Kaizer didn't expect is that Musaki filled himself with blue and white lightning around him and as soon as he came down, he struck towards Kaizer with a single powerful kick to the shin that sent him hurtling through the wall. Kaizer was definitely shocked to see this and he never thought that something would come out in him.

Kaizer growls and continues to spar with Musaki and kept punching, kicking and shoving him down as hard as he could, but even that wouldn't be enough to defeat Musaki as he releases himself from his grip and proceeds to give him a super punch to the jaw and to the head.

Musaki takes a deep breath after this and Kaizer began to stand up and he lets out a low growl, apparently in disbelief that he had beaten him and Shifu came towards both of them and he said, "Musaki...extraordinary moves. I can tell that you've been training as hard as you can. Kaizer, good...but you need to control your strength and your temper a little bit."

Hope snickered at that and he said, "Kaizer's got a temper."

Kaizer easily heard that and he lets out a simple glare towards Hope and he said, "Don't think I didn't hear that."

Musaki stuck out his paw to offer a handshake with Kaizer, hoping everything's cool between them, but for some reason...Kaizer didn't think it was even fair to give a handshake to Musaki and instead just walked away in a huff.

"Okay, then." Musaki added.

"If I know Kaizer, he's probably trying to cool himself down." Hope said.

"Let's hope he's in a calming mood soon."

* * *

We get to conversin' with Musaki and Kaizer pretty soon. Keep it here!


	5. Max Befriends the Girls

This totally came out of nowhere and I thought that maybe Faith, Skyler and Layla get to know Max a little bit...so here ya go.

* * *

Max Befriends the Girls

Sometime later in the afternoon, Max wanders around the barracks for a litle while and soon enough, he caught Faith's attention and the cheetah looks up at the little white tiger cub and she caught up with him and asked, "Max, right?"

"Uh-huh." Max replied, quietly.

Faith stared at Max and she got down to his level and studied his expressions and she asked him in a gentle tone, "Are you a little shy?"

Max nods his head in response and Faith lets out a smile and told him, "Don't be shy. I promise you I won't bite."

Max looks at her and he said, "You sure?"

"Of course not."

Just then, Skyler comes out and she sees Faith talking with Max and she walked towards him and he said, "Hey...we meet again."

"Hi." Max replied.

"What are you doing walking around here all by yourself?" asked Faith.

Max puts his paws on his pockets and replied in an innocent tone, "Nothing."

Skyler looks up into Max's eyes and she said, "Hey, I just realized that I haven't gotten to know that much about you."

"Neither do I." Faith answered.

Max seemed a little reluctant to let them know where he came from because he wasn't sure if he would explain it to them and Faith noticed that right away and she said, "You can trust us. Besides, it's okay if you don't have to tell us."

Faith and Skyler took Max to the kitchen and they saw Layla sitting there and as Max sat down on the chair, Layla asked, "Hey, what's Max doing here?"

Faith and Skyler took a seat themselves and Skyler said, "We've met Max a few months ago and we haven't even got to know him a little bit."

Max wasn't quite sure if he should tell them but looking at Faith's eyes, he could sense that gentle motherly-like figure look and it in turn made him feel like he could trust her...even though she's only met him on that one time. He then said to them, "My story may not be a good one."

"You can trust all of us. Aside from the fact we have powers, we're good friends here." Skyler stated.

"Okay. I've been here in the Valley of Peace for like...two years now and my past has been really painful and something that a kid shouldn't have to deal with. I was molested by my mom when I was a tiny cub and she abandoned me by a pack of wolves for nearly a year until I ran away from them and landed in the orphanage. I've been picked on and tormented by them and I would often have nightmares about my mom coming back for me. I always felt like it was my fault and that nobody really cares about me." Max replied.

All girls felt a huge amount of sympathy for Max after hearing a story like that and their response was, "Aw..."

"That's the most saddest thing I've ever heard." Faith added.

Skyler couldn't imagine the horror Max had to go through and she said, "What kind of mother would do something like that to her own cubs? It's just sickening."

"Whatever happened to her?" asked Layla.

Max looked at all three of them in the eye and he said, "My wolf brother killed her to protect me so I wouldn't go through this again."

"Wolf brother?" asked Skyler.

"Yeah, Arizona."

All three of them were surprised that Arizona would do that to protect Max and they were extremely estatic about that and Faith said, "Looks like she might've deserved it."

"After she was stalking me and trying to get me to come back to her so I can feel the same pain she put me in. But now that she's gone, I feel happier now than I've ever been." Max added.

The girls could see that Max is smiling a little bit and that he sees them as his friends and Layla asked, "For someone so young, you're definitely the coolest person I've ever met. And how old are you?"

"Eight." Max said.

Skyler patted Max on the head and she said, "You're a sweet little person, Maxie."

"Thank you. And you're very nice too." Max added.

The girls liked being around Max and Layla asked, "You know any kung-fu moves?"

Max showed them a few moves that Arizona taught him and when he landed them really well, the three cheered for him and Faith said, "You're so good at this."

"Thanks. That's really kind of you." Max said, smiling.

"Aw, you're so adorable."

Minutes later, Ryo, Takami, Hope, Musaki and Arizona were heading their way to the barracks and as they were heading towards the hallways, they were surprised to see Skyler, Faith and Layla with Max coming out of the kitchen just laughing with each other and with Max's jokes.

"Adorable and funny. Maxie, you've got the best personality I've ever seen." Layla added.

"Thank you. I enjoyed hanging with you guys a lot." Max replied.

Faith puts her hand on Max's shoulder and she said, "It's really great seeing you again, Max. If you ever need someone to talk to or just hang out, come to one of us and we'll be sure to keep you company."

"I will. I promise." Max said, smiling.

Almost immediately, Layla, Faith and Skyler gave Max a kiss on the cheek and that seemed to shock all five guys standing there and when the girls did notice them standing, they said, "Hey, guys."

Then, Skyler notices Arizona there and she said, "Max said told us about how you became his wolf brother. I think he's lucky to have someone like you to care for him."

"And we think it's really sweet." Faith agreed.

All three of them walked away and the boys looked at Max for a second and Musaki said, "Finally got some girlfriends, Max?"

"They're my new friends." Max added.

Arizona chuckled at this and he said, "And you said girls were gross."

Ryo, Takami and Hope shared no hard feelings towards the young cub and Takami said to him, "I think someone's got a crush."

Ryo chuckled softly and said, "Way to score, Maxie-boy."

"Same here." Hope agreed.

Max giggled a little bit and he said, "I need some ice cream."

* * *

How's that? Was it a little too much. Didn't want to give in too much detail about Max's past because he's younger. We got more coming up soon!


	6. Getting Used to

Now...Musaki and Kaizer talk after sparring with each other. You can tell that Kaizer's not used to opening up to new people.

* * *

Getting Used to

Minutes after the spar, Kaizer sits on the Sacred Peach Tree, just completely lost in mind about why he lost to Musaki and through all of his times fighting, he's never lost a single fight...until today when Musaki beat him completely. He really didn't know how to handle losing really well and asked himself, "Why did I have to lose?"

Soon enough, he sees Musaki standing there and the white tiger couldn't have cared a lot more less as he turned away from him and Musaki could tell that Kaizer was upset about losing to him and he could understand how he felt and he asked, "Mind if I sit here?"

"I don't care." Kaizer replied.

With that little bit of insight, Musaki sat down next to him and it was pretty much difficult for him to ask him something and he didn't know whether he was mad or a little bit hurt that he lost and he cleared his throat and he said, "You're not still mad at me, are ya?"

"For what?" Kaizer asked, in an emotionless tone.

"Well...for me winning the spar." Musaki replied, nervously.

Kaizer then looked at Musaki for a second and he replied, "Does it look like I could care?"

Musaki sensed that 'I don't really care' look and attitude coming from Kaizer and for a while, Musaki didn't say anything about it and Kaizer turns away from him again. Just then, Musaki said, "I guess I'll take that as a 'yes' then."

Silence brewed between the two of them, neither of them knew what they wanted to say to each other and Musaki takes a deep breath and looked up at the sky for a second and then he asked, "Is this your first loss?"

"Since when do you care? We just met, remember?" asked Kaizer.

"Just wanted to ask." Musaki replied.

Kaizer sighed heavily and he knew that Musaki would keep talking until he gets a full answer and he said, "Yeah. It's my first loss. Happy?"

That surprised Musaki to hear that this was the first loss that Kaizer had to go in and he asked, "Why's that?"

"Look, it's best that I keep it to myself. I'm not really willing to share my personal life with someone that I just met." Kaizer replied.

"Why not?"

"Because."

Musaki could already tell that his loss deeply bothered the white tiger a lot and all Kaizer wants to do is keep that hidden from anyone and all Musaki could do is let out a deep sigh and said, "Okay then. Whatever you say, K-Beelz."

Kaizer turns to him and he asked, "What was that?"

"K-Beelz. I invented a new nickname for ya." Musaki replied.

Kaizer rose his one eyebrow in confusion and he asked, "What do I need a nickname for? I already got one...Kai. That's it."

"Yeah, that sounds a lot easier." Musaki stated.

Kaizer lets out a deep exhale and he asked, "You really wanna know why this is my first loss in a fight? Because I thought I can take you down just as easily, but obviously you seem to be one that is willing to fight me and win. All battles I've fought...I never lose. There, now ya know."

Musaki didn't really know what to say much and the fact that Kaizer admitting it was already surprising and he nodded in understanding and he said, "I think we're getting somewhere. But I have to admit...you are the better fighter. Happens to all of us, but we hold no grudges against our opponents. We treat them just the same."

Kaizer then looks at Musaki for a second and he said, "If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone with my thoughts right now."

Musaki completely understood it and he gets himself up and walks out of the Sacred Peach Tree, leaving Kaizer by himself...while thinking about what Musaki had said.

'How does he know my thoughts so easily?' Kaizer thought.

* * *

Again, I hope I got his personality right. If I messed up, I apologize. We gots more coming up!


	7. Sparring with Kiba

We see Kiba and Musaki sparring with each other having their skills tested.

* * *

Sparring with Kiba

Musaki was standing inside the Training Hall with Kiba as his sparring partner and as they began, Kiba charged towards him and kicks and punches him, but every move Kiba makes Musaki dodges very quickly and Musaki does an uppercut move and kicks Kiba in the jaw.

Kiba falls down, but he gets himself back up and flips Musaki multiple times, but Musaki turned the tables on Kiba and flipped him instead by yanking his tail all around and throws him down to the ground.

"Is that all you got?" asked Kiba.

Musaki makes a kung-fu pose move and he said, "Just got started, Kiba."

Ryo was sitting there, rooting for Musaki to take him down and he shouts, "Come on, Saki! Kick Kiba somewhere where it hurts!"

Kiba gets himself back again and refocuses on fighting again as he does a backflip and kicks Musaki in the stomach, but even that didn't faze him. Musaki instead spins around and punches Kiba in the face several times and then trips him on the legs. Kiba refused to give up and he just kept kicking Musaki in the face and in the shin.

Musaki got up and he said to himself, "Dude's going down."

He quickly climbs on top of the railings of the training hall and as Kiba looks up, he seems a little confused on what's he doing because he has no clue as to why he's hanging up there.

"What is he doing?" Kiba whispered.

Musaki then spins around and somersaults around the wood ceilings and then, falls down and does a corkscrew move where it kicks Kiba's shin and he flies towards the wall and he lands on the wall and falls down to the floor.

Musaki got back on the ground to his feet, silently walking towards Kiba to make sure he was defeated, but to his surprise, Kiba kicks him in the stomach and he got up and was about to make his move and bodyslammed him to the back, but Musaki had other ideas.

He grabbed Kiba and threw him onto the ground several times and does a backflip kick move and the final blow to the match is where Musaki spins Kiba around, throws him up in the air and kicks him in the head.

Ryo cheered for Musaki and was very energetic about the whole entire fight and he said, "Yeah, Saki! You brought him down hard!"

Musaki winks at Ryo and gives him a thumbs-up and as Ryo walks out, Musaki walks over to Kiba and as the white wolf got up, he looks up at Musaki reaching out a paw for help and Kiba gladly accepts the help and Musaki said, "You're a heck of a fighter."

"So are you." Kiba agreed.

The two walk over to the barracks and talked about it and Musaki was completely blown away by how the fight lasted and things like that. Musaki then told him, "You'd be a great sparring partner."

"Thanks. But Ryo's been my sparring partner for a short time. That's when he doesn't kick my butt as hard." Kiba stated.

"That's understandable." Musaki added.

"But yeah...I'd love to spar with you. You're an awesome fighter and an awesome guy." Kiba added.

"So are you, Kiba."

Kiba gets himself up and he said, "Anyways, I gotta go to the bathroom. I smell like wet dog."

Musaki chuckled at that and he said, "Later, bro."

"You too."

As Kiba got his bath stuff ready, he walked into the bathroom and to his surprise...he saw a naked Ryo standing from behind and when Ryo turned around and sees Kiba standing there, Ryo covered himself up immediately and said, "Kiba, get out of here!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't know you were in there." Kiba said, in defense.

"Do you not see that I'm naked here?! Get out!" Ryo growled.

Kiba quickly got out of the bathroom and the last thing Ryo said, "Wait your turn, will ya?!"

"Sorry, Ryo!"

Kiba takes a deep breath and whispered, "Didn't see that coming."

* * *

I sorta put that little ending there on purpose. Needed to end something on a good laugh. We got more coming up soon!


	8. Two Wolf Brothers and a Tiger Cub

Here's where Max meets Ryo's brothers, Chronos and Zack.

* * *

Two Wolf Brothers and a Tiger Cub

The following afternoon, Chronos and Zack made their way to the Jade Palace to check up on Ryo to see how he's doing and as soon as they get to the top, a very exhausted Chronos laid down flat on his back after taking those long steps and he said, "Couldn't they have made these steps shorter?"

Zack looked up at Chronos and he replied, "Apparently not."

Chronos grunts as he stood up and tried to catch his breath as both wolves walked towards the door and knocked on the door. Zack looks up at Chronos and asked, "Think Ryo would be surprised to see us?"

"Knowing Ryo...possible chance." Chronos replied.

The door opens and they see Skyler standing there answering the door and she said, "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"We came to check on your 'boyfriend' or 'mate'." Zack replied.

Skyler rolled her eyes at that remark Zack made and she said, "Training Hall. And for the record, if Ryo was my boyfriend, he wouldn't be such an immature puppy."

"Hey, cut Ryo a break, Sky." Chronos reasoned.

Skyler lets out an amused scoff at Chronos and she said, "Very funny."

The two wolves made their way to the courtyard and they seek a little white tiger cub pouncing out of the steps out of nowhere and the wolves were almost freaked out by it. Max sees them and he said, "You're not Ryo."

Chronos chuckled softly and he said, "No, but we know him."

Max tilted his head to the side and he asked, "How?"

"We're his brothers. I'm the oldest brother, Ryo's the middle wolf and this guy's the youngest." Chronos explained.

Zack waved his paw towards Max and he asked, "What's your name, little guy?"

"Maximumus Bushido-Akio. But everyone calls me 'Max'."

Both Chronos and Zack shook Max's paw and Zack tells him, "Nice to meet you, Max. How old are you?"

"Eight years old." Max replied.

Chronos whistled at that and he said, "Eight...sounds like you're getting to become a big cub, huh?"

"Uh...sorta." Max said, softly.

Zack got down to Max's level a little bit and he asked, "Are you a little shy?"

Max nods his head in response and Zack places his paw around the cub's shoulder and he said, "Me and my brother are cool with you. Don't be afraid of us."

"I'm...not afraid...a little." Max stated.

Chronos looks up at Max and he lets out a smile that assured him that everything's okay and just then, Ryo comes out of nowhere and he said, "Hey, Max. Weren't you gonna look for me?"

Zack turns around and sees Ryo walking by and he said, "Hey, big bro."

Ryo was surprised to see that Chronos and Zack showed up and he said, "What are you guys doing here?"

"Uh...we came to check in on you." Chronos replied.

Ryo chuckled at that and he said, "Well...here I am."

He then noticed that they've met Max and he told them, "I see you've met Max already."

Zack chuckled and he said, "Yeah, he's a cool kid."

"Very." Chronos agreed.

Max then looked up at all three wolves and he asked, "You guys wanna play hide and seek with us?"

Zack seemed enthusiastic about hide and seek, but Chronos was pretty much confused that he was gonna join in and Max took some coaxing to convince Chronos to join him...when he did the sad tiger cub eyes. Chronos recognized that look anywhere because it was similar to Ryo's and he turned to Ryo and asked, "Did you teach him that look?"

"No. I didn't teach him the sad eyes look." Ryo replied.

Chronos lets out a smile and he said, "All right. I'll join in."

Just then, Max immediately began counting as the three wolves scrambled for a place to hide to play along and as soon as he was done counting, Max immediately lurked over towards parts of the courtyard to find them. Very quickly, he had found Zack hiding behind the training hall building and chased him down and both partnered up to find Chronos.

Max then saw Chronos' tail sticking out under the side of the building and the tiger cub pretty much knew that Chronos' merely exposed his tail and he grabbed ahold of it and said, "Gotcha!"

Chronos turned to both of them and he said, "How did you even see me?"

"Your tail gave it away." Zack replied.

Chronos lets out an embarassed groan and he didn't realize anyone would recognize it and he said, "Stupid me."

Seconds later, Max, Zack and Chronos were heading through parts of the training hall to find Ryo and very quickly, Skyler walks by and saw them running around the training hall and she went up to them and said, "What are you guys doing?"

"We're playing hide and go seek." Max replied.

"Looking for Ryo." Chronos added.

Skyler could figure out where Ryo could be hiding if he played the game and she said, "Hey, Max...mind if a girl can play?"

Zack snickered at her for that and he said, "You...playing hide and seek?"

Skyler glared at Zack for making that statement and she growled at him and that was enough to make Zack shut his mouth and Max said, "Yeah, you can play."

"I think I might know where Ryo is." Skyler added.

Max lead Skyler, Chronos and Zack into the training hall in hopes of finding Ryo and they heard a sneeze coming out of nowhere and Skyler turned around and motioned all of them to head into the closet and when Max opened the door, he saw Ryo's tail sticking out from behind the wall and Skyler quickly walked over and stomped on his tail.

Ryo let out a howl out nowhere and he said, "Max...why'd you step on my tail?"

"That wasn't me." Max replied.

"Then, was it one of my brothers or some nutty doofus?" asked Ryo.

Skyler clears her throat and she replied, "Don't you mean, 'Miss' nutty doofus?"

Ryo recognized that angry voice coming out of nowhere and it was Skyler's and as he turned around, Skyler looked up at him and said, "Looks like I won this game."

"Did Max let you in this game?" asked Ryo.

"Yes, he did." Skyler replied, with her arms crossed.

Ryo then turned to his brothers and he asked Max, "Did you already know where I was?"

Max nodded his head stating no and he said, "We kinda heard you sneeze."

Ryo growled at himself for giving himself away and Skyler chuckled mischeviously and chased Ryo around the training hall, leaving the others watching the fun and Max asked, "Should we stop them?"

"And miss this? What's the fun not seeing my brother get his butt kicked by a girl?" asked Zack.

"I gotta see how it turns out." Chronos said, running behind Zack.

"Hey, wait for me!" Max exclaimed.

* * *

Hilarious, huh? We gots more coming up!


	9. Manga Mania

So...what do a couple of teenage kung-fu masters in training do on their break? Check out some comics. Hilarious things can happen in those stores.

* * *

Manga Mania

Musaki and Arizona walked across the village along with Ryo and Kiba on their way to a bookstore and Musaki turned to Kiba and the look on the Alpha wolf's face was full of excitement and hyper and he said, "You okay?"

Kiba turned to Musaki and he said, "I just want to see the new comics they brought in."

Ryo lets out an amused sigh and rolled his eyes and said, "You and your comics..."

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing." Kiba added.

"Only because you're way too excited to see what's new or what you want to see." Ryo replied.

Arizona chuckled at this and he said, "Po's like that too when we catch him in the manga section from the bookstore."

That thought made Ryo think that that's how Kiba could be and he said, "Another Po...and it's a wolf."

They entered inside the bookstore and all four of them were at the manga section to check out something new and as Musaki searched for something, Kiba had his hands on every comic that he sees in its first glance. Ryo taps Kiba on the shoulder and he stated, "Other people have to buy the comics too, you know. You can't just grab them after seeing it the first time."

"I'm just browsing. Bet you're into that romance stuff." Kiba stated.

Ryo became dumbfounded after Kiba made that little joking assumption about it and he said, "Romance are for sissies."

While the two wolves were busy debating, Musaki took an interest in this one book that tells about a story of a young panda that's on a self-discovery on finding out who his relatives are and who he became and it intrigued him the most because that's relatable to his life. The one page in particular shows how this young panda cub was grieving over his parents' death by a random murderer and left as an orphan.

Musaki looks up at this character that's been hiding in a corner in an orphanage in the dark and he could see a similar background with this main character, Izumi. Musaki blinked a couple of times and went through a few pages and found one page that his grandfather used to be a legendary kung-fu warrior in his years and it gave the main character the strength to live on the legacy his family left.

"That really does remind me of myself." Musaki said, softly.

"Found something you like, Musaki?"

Musaki looks up and there, he sees his friend Shiissaa coming in behind him and he said, "Hey, Shiissaa. Didn't see you there."

"Yeah, I was about to put in a few more manga comics with this new story about these vampires saving the entire world of Japan. What is it with fans and vampires?" asked Shiissa.'

"Beats the snot out of me. How's Ichi?" asked Musaki.

"Doing fine. He had to go to Gongmen City for some sort of mission or something Master Shifu sent him to do a few weeks ago." Shiissaa explained.

That surprised Musaki to hear that Ichi was going to Gongmen City and he asked, "Why didn't he tell me about it?"

"Didn't want you to worry. I know you've saved him numerous times and he's saved you, but this was something he had to do on his own. It was pretty hard for Shifu, but now that Ichi's 18, he's capable of taking care of himself." Shiissaa added.

"Yeah, I understand." Musaki said.

Shiissaa took a look at what Musaki's reading and he said, "'The Lost Warrior.' Pretty awesome book too. This is pretty much the first volume of it."

"First? You mean...there's more?" asked Musaki.

"Yep. Says it'll go for about 30 volumes...unless they do more." Shiissaa added.

Just then, they see Kiba getting all hyped up on action packed mangas that he's reading and Kiba said, "Wow! That girl looks hot!"

Ryo looks up at the page and sees her wearing a steel top with a short skirt surrounded by lightning bolts and he said, "If mating season came around...she's the first one I'd mate with."

"Hopefully, Skyler won't hear that." Arizona warned him.

Ryo looks up at Arizona and he said, "Skyler won't know because she likes to kick the crap out of me."

Kiba lets out a little chuckle and said, "Because she likes you."

Ryo scoffs and added, "Since when?"

Kiba tried to come up with a reply, but then it comes out as, "Well...she sorta told me that...you have a cute butt."

Ryo completely froze at that while Arizona was speechless to hear this come out of Kiba and left the section in case a fight breaks out and Ryo then turned to Kiba and asked, "Did she really say that?"

"Yeah." Kiba replied.

"And you're now telling me this because...?" asked Ryo, raising his eyebrow.

"If I had said it, you would've chased me across the village." Kiba replied.

Ryo blinked a couple of times and then, he asked, "Does she really think it's cute?"

"Pretty much." Kiba stated.

Ryo lets out a little smirk on that and he said, "I finally get something about me that's cute."

Meanwhile

Musaki and Arizona looked at this manga comic he had read and Arizona was deeply intrigued by the main character of the story and then, he looked at Musaki and could tell that there was a similar connection between the two. Arizona then said, "You like this story, Saki?"

"Yeah, I feel like me and Izumi have a few things in common." Musaki replied.

"Parents that were murdered, found out you had relatives you never knew, family member became a legendary kung-fu master and all the good stuff." Arizona stated.

Musaki chuckled softly and said, "It's like you know me so well."

"I've known you for a year and a half. That's how I am." Arizona replied.

"Wonder what Ryo and Kiba are up to?" asked Musaki.

Arizona clears his throat and he stood up and said, "I think it's best that we should get what we came for and head back to the palace."

Musaki was a little surprised that something had happened that Arizona knows, but doesn't want him to know and he asked, "That bad?"

"You haven't seen bad." Arizona replied.

"I see."

After they got back to the palace, Ryo went over to Skyler, apparently walking around nonchalantly and he said, "So...my butt's cute, huh?"

Skyler looks up at Ryo in confusion and she asked, "What are you barking about now, Ryo?"

Ryo chuckled and said, "I always thought you couldn't stand me, but you really find me irresistable."

"Why wouldn't I resist you?" asked Skyler.

"It's my butt you can't resist."

Skyler immediately knew what he was talking about and she slapped Ryo in the face based on that and she said, "You are such a perverted mutt!"

"You like me. Admit it." Ryo teased.

"I'm warning you, Ryo." Skyler growled.

Ryo smirked and he said, "Come on, Sky. I thought you said I have the cutest butt you've ever seen in your life."

Next thing we know, Ryo got chased by a very P'Oed Skyler all around the courtyard and both of them were shouting incoherently and it caused attention from Takami and Tamaki as Musaki and Arizona were watching. Takami then turned to Arizona and he asked, "Should I wanna know?"

"Not really." Arizona replied.

"Gotcha."

* * *

Again, I did the Ryo/Skyler thing on purpose for hilarious reasons. Shiissaa is owned by Wonder Panda Tan-Tan. Stick around for more!


	10. The Truth About Max

This is gonna be a turning point in this one-shot series. Bet you never saw this one coming that it's gonna shift into drama. I know you wanted hilarious...bbut I thought I could do a little bit of seriousness in it. For example...

* * *

The Truth About Max

Early that evening, Arizona was walking around the barracks hallways and there was one thing on his mind...Max. The grey wolf sees Max as his own little brother even though he's a tiger, but still feels like he's got all the responsibilities and sensitivity of an older sibling and he knows that he would do anything for him. He then walks to his room and sits down on his mat and looks back on how everything had happened for an entire year and a half.

Remembering the time that his abusive birth mother came to stalk him, he felt that he always had that attachment to Max and how he took his role of an older brother and a protector very seriously because he can easily relate to him. But often times, he wondered...did killing his birth mom seem like the right thing to do?

The grey wolf definitely remembered the time that he had confronted her in that epic final battle between him and her and it all seemed like it was all a blur, but he knew what he had had to do, otherwise, Max's mother would've won the war and would continue to make Max's life miserable. He lets out a deep sigh and covered his face while letting out an exasperated sigh while thinking this over.

"Did I do what was best for my tiger brother?" whispered Arizona.

Arizona was unaware that Tamaki was standing there in his room, looking worried about him and as the white-striped tiger entered the room, he knelt down in front of him and as Arizona opens his eyes and finally saw Tamaki there, he had no idea how long had he been there and he said, "Didn't see you there."

"Is something bothering you, Arizona?" asked Tamaki, in a concerned tone.

Arizona blinked his eyes a few times and wasn't really quite sure if he would tell him what had happened between him and Max's mother because Tamaki would see his opinion of him...a killer. Tamaki grabbed Arizona's paw and he said, "You can trust me."

Arizona looks up at Tamaki and he said, "Bring your brother and most of the others here."

Seconds later, Tamaki; along with Takami, Ryo, Chronos, Kiba, Zack, Hope and Kaizer came into the room to let a few things off of his chest that he had kept for a year and a half and he said, "I know most of you have met Max before."

"Yeah, he's a sweet kid." Takami answered.

"Me and Hope haven't met this kid...so why tell us now?" asked Kaizer.

Arizona then responds, "Well...most of you know him as this happy-go-lucky, fun kid that you've seen, but he wasn't always like this."

Kiba seemed a little intrigued about this and he asked, "What do you mean?"

"What I may tell you will completely shock you guys. In his early childhood, Max have suffered a lot of things and dealt with a lot of things that no other cub should deal with. His parents were very dysfunctional and completely violent with each other and often times, Max is put in the crossfire of it. What's crazy about that is from the time of Max's birth, his dad was in his early or mid 20's while his mom was 15 or 16. His dad left the picture leaving the mom with her cubs and she gave them a lot of cruelty...but Max was her favorite victim to victimize because she reminds him of her dad and her boyfriend, so to make him feel the same way she felt, she had molested Max when he was 4 and did it the same way her father did to her so he would suffer. Then, she made the most selfish decision...she abandoned him when he was 5 to a pack of wolves and they would molest him too...sometimes in a physical sense. He finally ran away from them a few months later after enduring the horror he's been in and has spent most of the time all alone in that forest; dealing with the rain, the cold and heat. I guess someone had saw him laying there on the ground and they took him onto Bao Gu Orphanage. Even though it was stable, some kids bullied him a lot because he was a white tiger and in Max's mind, he felt like he would never have a family because of what his mom did to him and that another amily might hurt him the same way she did to him. But my friend's uncle met Max when he was six and he took him in, put him in a good home with his new brothers and sisters and made him feel like he's part of the family. But often times, he would have nightmares about his mom coming for him and do something a whole lot worse to Max than what she had done. A year ago, Max finally felt like he was settled in...until his mother came back for him and would go to extreme lengths to get him back and she could not stop stalking him when we kept him safe in the Jade Palace and I took it upon myself that I would not let this woman harm Max ever again and that I'd do anything to keep him safe. One day, she kidnapped him and tried to take him as her prisoners to molest him again, but me, Musaki, Shifu, Po and the Five fought back big time to save Max. But when it came to me and her...I was not backing down and fought her with all my might and then...it happened. I viciously killed her. You can say it's wolf instinct, but that's what I had to do...to protect my tiger brother." Arizona explained.

The reaction from everyone else was one of shock, sorrow and surprise because they didn't expect this to happen to Max when he was a younger cub. Tamaki was completely speechless and Takami felt dumbfounded at all of this and Chronos took a sharp breath and whispered, "That's horrible, man."

"Yeah, I know. I just disgusts me when a mother would do something like this to her own son because she had a traumatic past." Arizona agreed.

Hope covered his mouth in shock and blinked a few times and couldn't imagine being placed into that position and just stayed silent throughout the whole thing, but did feel sorry for Max.

"Why couldn't he tell us that himself?" asked Zack.

"He's too young to know that." Arizona replied.

Takami lets out a deep sigh and he said, "I didn't realize that."

Arizona then looks up at Takami and asked, "If your younger sister had been molested by a stranger, what would you do?"

Takami couldn't imagine the same thing happening, but when that thought came to mind, he replied, "Find this guy...and kill him."

"Kami...revenge isn't always the answer." Tamaki reasoned.

Kiba just broke down crying for Max and said to Arizona, "That's the saddest thing for a kid to go through, man."

"Kiba's right. No cub should ever feel like they're nothing because of what had happened." Ryo stated.

Arizona then said to them, "I know it wasn't his fault and I believe him. We're all hoping that we can stand by his side and let him know that he's loved and that he's surrounded by people he can trust to show that we care."

"You're absolutely right, Arizona."

All of them turned around and saw Shifu standing there and said, "Gained a lot of wisdom, have you?"

Arizona stood up and he said, "Yeah. I've known this from personal experience...because I used to be molested myself by Dai Ling and his stupid comrades. I used to think that it was my fault for making this happen, but I realized that it wasn't my problem. It's theirs. So...why bother holding on to what they did? I forgive them and Max's mother, but I never forget them."

"At times, we must forgive and forget. It is difficult to move on, but you'll feel a great sense of burden you've kept and it'll lift you up and set you free so you can move forward with your life. Remember this in your life." Shifu added.

"Yes, master."

"That goes for the rest of you too." Shifu said.

"Yes, master." the others replied.

Later on, Arizona looks on and sees Max playing hide and seek with Kovu and Borko and he lets out a smile, knowing how far they came within a year that their friendship has grown stronger and as the others looked on, everyone has a sense that Max will become someone.

Max runs over to Arizona and hugs his waist and Arizona unexpectedly accepts the hug and he asked, "What for?"

"Nothing. Just felt like you needed one." Max replied.

Arizona smiled at that and continued hugging him and he said, "I'll take a free hug anytime."

Max lets go and continues playing and Chronos looks up to Arizona and he said, "Lucky kid."

"Yeah, he is."

* * *

If this wasn't what you expected, I apologize. I thought I can balance out some friendships, funny moments, sensitive and sweet moments and serious moments...so I hope it's cool with SpiritualLoneWolf XIII. Stay tuned for more!


	11. Who Do We Look Up To

Musaki, Arizona and the Hazards play a little game. Back to the funny moments!

* * *

Who Do We Look Up To

Musaki, Arizona, Takami, Ryo, Skyler, Faith, Tamaki, Kiba, Hope and Kaizer got around the Peach tree to play a little game Musaki had invented and he said, "Got a game for you guys...it's called 'Who Looks up to the most or least'. The core point of this game is guess which kung-fu hero or ordinary person that we look up to the most or the least."

"Are there any winners in those?" asked Kaizer.

"Nope. It's just for fun." Musaki replied.

Kaizer didn't seem to get the whole benefit from this perception of the game, but decided to just go along with it anyway as Musaki started and he said, "I'll go first. Who I look up to the most...would have to Po. Because he taught me to just stay true to who I am and never change for anyone or anything and to always believe in myself even when others don't believe in you."

Faith was really touched by that kind of philosophy Musaki brought in and he said, "That's inspiring, Musaki."

"Thanks." Musaki replied.

"Well, who do you look up to the least?" asked Tamaki.

"Master Tigress."

That seemed to shock Takami the most because he thought everyone looks up to Tigress a lot and he asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Now...hear me out on this one. I know she's the most strongest, courageous and fierce kung-fu master and that's pretty impressive, but she's way too aggressive, violent and somewhat...mean." Musaki replied.

"He has a good point on that one, Ryo." Kiba stated.

"Very true." Ryo said.

"I find it hard to believe that you look up to her the least." Takami explained.

Musaki rolled his eyes and he said, "Try being yelled at for no reason and you'll see my point. All right, who's next?"

Takami went next and he said, "Person I look up to the most is Tigress. She is pretty cool, strong and completely radical with her moves and such and is the best mentor...even though she can be hard to deal with, but we can relate. Person that I look up to the least...I'd say Monkey. He's a bit of a prankster and I've been the victim of his pranks...one that involves taking most of my clothes while I was bathing."

Ryo started laughing at this and that seemed to tick Takami off the most as he lets out a small growl and Ryo said, "Come on, T.K. It was pretty funny when you chased him in your underwear."

Takami scoffs at this and said, "Whatever."

Tamaki tried to keep his laugh stifled and he's starting to have his turn and he said, "All right...the person I look up to the most is my little brother. When we were young, he used to look up to me...even before he was sent to the orphanage and that I got involved with the Anonymous Strike group and I look at him now, I completely look up to him. He's like courageous, awesome, tough and I guess in a way...really inspires me a lot."

Takami smiles at his big brother for that response and he said, "Thanks, Tamaki."

Tamaki nods his head in response and he said, "The person I look up to the least is Po. He's sorta...crazy and a little bit immature...kinda like Ryo or Kiba."

"Hey!" both wolves shout, in unison.

Skyler chuckled at that and said, "There is sort of a resemblance."

She then continued on to say, "The one person I look up to is Master Viper. She's got class, beauty, style and fierceness. The most, by the way. And for the least...Ryo. He's sort of...a dork and it's like training a puppy...who eats a lot."

Ryo growls at her for that and he said, "Really? Okay, I look up to Takami because he's the best leader and the best fighter and I learn a lot from him. One who I look up to the least is Skyler...because she's stubborn, big-headed and has a violent temper."

"Oh, you haven't seen temper yet!" Skyler barked.

"Wanna bet?!" Ryo shouted.

Arizona lets out a big bark towards both of them and growls at them after that and he said, "Break it up, you two! You're both acting like puppies!"

"Arizona's right. Let's just concentrate on having fun and less on kicking each other's butts...unless either me or Arizona kick yours. Either way, we're good." Tamaki growled.

"Sorry." they both said.

Kiba then raised his paw and asked, "Can I have a turn?"

"Sure." Musaki replied.

Kiba then lets out a deep sigh and he said, "The person I look up to the most is Ryo. I know it may seem like I get on your nerves a lot, but you inspire me a lot. That's the reason why I always follow you around because I'm hoping you can see that some Alpha's aren't all that bad. You're strong, tough and completely awesome. There are times that I wish I could be like you for a day."

Ryo didn't quite exactly notice that Kiba looks up to him and he was a bit surprised that this one Alpha wolf looks up to an Omega and he blinks a little bit and said, "Thanks, Kiba. I didn't expect that to happen."

Kiba nods his head and he said, "The person I look up to the least would be...Master Shifu. He yells too much."

Everyone agreed with that and Ryo couldn't argue with that at all and he said, "For once, we agree on something."

Faith smiles and said, "I look up to two people; Hope and Arizona. For Hope, he's my boyfriend and I'm really glad that he's the Phoenix Warrior and he makes me feel special. I know you would say it's kinda unusual that a brown bear and a cheetah would be together...but if a bear and a feline should fall for each other, then it would make me happier to be Hope's mate."

Hope lets out a smile and kissed Faith in the cheek and said, "Thanks."

Faith giggles and replied, "You're welcome. Arizona...he's like philosophical and so wise beyond his years, always one to keep the peace and not to mention, the best big brother around a certain tiger cub. It sorta makes me feel like I should learn what he's teaching me."

Arizona chuckled and said, "I'm actually flattered."

Arizona then had a turn and he said, "All right...I look up to Musaki the most because he's like a really awesome guy to be around and ever since he saved me from Dai Ling like a year ago, he inspires me to be my own person and just be free to be who I want to be and that I could make a difference."

"Wow...I think you inspire all of us here." Tamaki stated.

"However, the one person I look up to the least would be Master Tigress. My reason is that she's a perfectionist and want to be a perfect warrior. Trying to be a people pleaser is pretty much a waste of time and if you're not pleasing yourself, then...why bother making other people like you?" Arizona stated.

Takami lets out a heavy sigh after hearing what Arizona has stated, but he agreed with some parts of being a people pleaser and he's not the type of person who would do nothing but please others instead of himself. He stayed silent throughout and contemplated on that thought.

"All right, guess it's my turn. The one person I look up to the most is Po. Any person would be lucky to be his mentor and learn a few things from him and I think it's time that all bears should be kung-fu masters and those that don't care about their weight but want to achieve their goals and dreams. I'm lucky to have the Dragon Warrior as my mentor. The one I look up to the least is Tigress because she kinda doubts me the same way she doubts Po as being the Dragon Warrior, but I'm determined to prove her wrong." Hope added.

"Nice." Musaki said.

Kaizer was the last one to go and he was a little reluctant to participate in this game and he said, "What's the point of this game?"

"You get to pick who you look up the most and who you look up to the least. Unless...the one you look up the most is Felicity." Musaki teased.

Kaizer replied with a simple growl and he said, "Don't push it."

"Come on, Kai-Kai. Jump in." Hope said, elbowing his shoulder.

"Fine. The one I look up to would be Hope because he's the only person I can trust as a best friend. The one I look up to the least would be Shifu because at the Jade Palace dungeon, he hit me on the head with his flute for cursing." Kaizer replied.

"You really shouldn't curse in front of the grandmaster. He has zero tolerance for that." Musaki added.

Kaizer huffs at that and he said, "I'm just lucky that he's giving me a second chance."

Musaki chuckled at that and said sarcastically to Hope, "Isn't he a ray of sunshine?"

* * *

I'd like the Hazards to comment on this chapter...or every other chapter if so. Stick around for more!


	12. Guys' Day Out

This came out towards me and I thought what would happen if the guys from the Hazards along with Musaki, Arizona and Max experience on their half day off? Here's the answer.

* * *

Guys' Day Out

A few days have passed by and Musaki and most of the Hazards have been training a lot and felt like they need something to cool off for a bit and Shifu told most of the boys that they'll have have a day off and once they heard that, Kiba was the first one to plop down to the ground for a rest. Kiba said to himself, "It's about time."

Ryo rolled his eyes and just scoffed at Kiba's antics and he said, "You're pathetic."

Musaki gave himself time to stretch a little bit and he asked, "So...what do we do now?"

Takami snapped his fingers and he said, "We can all head out for a little swim, you know to give ourselves time to cool off a little bit. Just us guys, you know."

"Yeah, sorta like a guys day out." Arizona responded.

"Who's in?" asked Takami.

"I am." Musaki replied.

Most of the gang was in on the guys day out and Arizona said, "We can bring Kovu, Max and Borko in too."

"Sounds good to me." Tamaki agreed.

Minutes later, after gaining permission from Shifu, everyone was getting themselves ready to go out swimming as they brought in their swimming trunks and other stuff and before they even left, they see Po coming in with a few bags and he said, "Shifu said I can join you guys."

"Did Shifu say you could go?" asked Musaki.

"So I can supervise you guys." Po finished.

Musaki clears his throat at that and he said, "Sounds great...but who's gonna look after you?"

Takami snickered at that comment while most of the others sided with him and Po asked, "What, you think I can't join in on your all-guys outing?"

"We never said that." Musaki said.

Shifu walked in on this and he told Musaki, "I have asked Po to accompany you to your little outing...although I'm beginning to have doubts on having Po look after you."

"Trust me, Shifu...I got this in the bag." Po stated.

"I'm sure you do, panda. Tamaki, can you be in charge?" asked Shifu.

Tamaki nodded his head and replied, "Yes, master."

Po protested at this for a second and he asked, "Why should he be in charge?"

"Panda...you may be older than them, but you have the mind of a 10 year old." Shifu answered.

"And eats like one too." Arizona mutters.

"And I only put Tamaki in charge in case something happens. You and Tamaki can both be in charge, but mostly Tamaki because he's more wise and mature." Shifu added.

Po lets out a sigh and replied, "Yes, master."

* * *

At the swimming place

As soon as they arrived, everyone changed into their swim trunks; Musaki: a green and black striped swimsuit, Arizona; blue and grey swim trunks, Takami: black trunks, Ryo: brown trunks, Kiba: orange shorts, Hope: orange striped trunks, Tamaki: black and red trunks, Max: blue and white trunks, Kovu: orange trunks, Borko: red and white trunks and Kaizer: red trunks; and immediately dived into the pool, just swimming around the pool.

Kaizer only sat down on one of the chairs just to watch while everyone else is swimming around and Musaki looks over at Kaizer and said, "You oughta come down here. The water's fine."

Kaizer looks up at Musaki and he said, "No, thanks. I'm good."

"Why, you scared of the water or something?" asked Musaki.

"No...not really the swimming type." Kaizer replied.

Musaki scoffs at this and he said, "Okay then."

Arizona swam around parts of the pool with Max on his back for a little ride and as he swam around, they got underneath the water and rose back to the surface. Arizona took a deep breath and he asked Max, "You okay, buddy?"

"Can't complain." Max replied.

Tamaki then swam in front of them and he said to Max, "Hey, Max...you wanna play some ball with Kovu and Borko?"

"Yeah." Max replied.

Arizona and Max swam across parts of the pool and played some waterball for a few moments and as Tamaki threw the ball across, Max quickly spikes and Borko throws it towards Max and then throws it to Kovu and so on.

Musaki chuckled softly and he turns to Takami and said, "Looks like your brother's getting along with my tiger cousin."

"Yeah, he is. He likes being around the young ones a lot because he has this big brother role towards everyone. Even towards me and Kalia. But I think when it comes down to it, Tamaki treats everyone like family." Takami said.

Ryo sat down on the edge of the pool along with Musaki and Takami as they were chatting and Ryo said, "Anyone knows where Po is?"

"Last I checked, he was still in the dressing room, trying to make sure his trunks still fit." Musaki replied.

Kiba then jumps into the pool and swam around backwards and then floats around the pool for a second as he looks up at most of them and said, "Sup?"

"Showoff." Ryo scoffs.

Just then, out comes Po with his big red trunks on and he said, "You guys are about to witness the Dragon Warrior cannonball."

"Dragon..."

"Warrior...

"Cannonball?"

And with that, Po takes a few moments to gather himself up, get himself ready to make a big impression and most of the gang knew that as big as he is, he'll make a big splash and soon enough, he musters enough energy to run up towards the pool and takes a massive dive in a cannonball position as he splashes into the pool, much to the surprise of everyone that got soaked up.

Even Kiba got caught underwater after the big splash Po made and then comes back to the surface and exclaimed, "Not cool, man!"

Then, Po pops out of the surface and he asked, "What did you guys think?"

Musaki wiped off a few inches of water out of him and said, "Well, you certainly made a big splash."

Suddenly, a very ticked off Kaizer got soaked on the chair and he said, "I'm freaking wet here!"

"My bad." Po said.

Just then, Po swam out of the pool and much to the surprise of almost everyone, he came out without his trunks and just then, Po asked, "You guys feel a draft here?"

No one else knew how to tell Po that his trunks are floating out of through the pool and all Musaki could say was, "Nope, not at all."

"Wow. I did not need to see that." Takami stated.

After 2 and a half hours, everyone got themselves back on their normal clothes as they were about to head back to the Jade Palace and with Po still in the dressing room, Arizona asked Max, "You had fun, Maxie?"

"Big fun! The best!" Max exclaimed.

Tamaki chuckled softly and he said, "Glad you had fun, little guy."

"Thanks."

Tamaki turned to Arizona and he asked, "Kid's full of energy, huh?"

"Yeah, Max is a lot of fun to be around." Arizona replied.

Not long after that, Kiba snuck out of Po's dressing room with his shorts on his hand as well as Ryo's shorts and Tamaki looks up at Kiba and asked, "What have you got there?"

"I got both Ryo's and Po's pants." Kiba whispered, with letting out a snicker.

"You do realize one of them are gonna knock you out for that, right?" asked Tamaki, his arms crossed.

"Come on, Maki...I'm sure you did the same thing to Takami." Kiba said, playfully.

"Yeah...not really."

"Where are my pants?!" Po and Ryo, said at the same time.

"See ya!" Kiba said, taking off.

Ryo burst open the door and he sees Kiba walking out with both pants and he shouted, "KIBA!"

Po and Ryo ran across the pool grounds, chasing Kiba completely naked to get their pants back and Ryo seemed very furious while Po became very embarassed.

"Kiba, give me my pants back! You know that I hate running around naked!" Ryo shouted.

"Well, it's a good look for you guys!" Kiba added.

Po covered his pandahood in hopes that no one's watching this while they're chasing Kiba around and as the chase continues...Kiba opens the girls room and then keeps running, thinking that Kiba's in there and when Ryo saw the door fling around, he could assume that Kiba's in there and he brings Po into girls' room and by the minute they were in there...

Most of them could hear girls screaming out of nowhere and as soon as both Po and Ryo came out, Po said, "I'm guessing he's not in there."

"Don't we know that much?" asked Ryo, in a sarcastic tone.

Suddenly, they see a couple of ticked off girls coming in to chase down Ryo and Po for 'spying' on them and as soon as Max heard the screaming, he asked, "What's going on?"

"Max...I'll let you know when you're older...and don't turn out like they did." Musaki replied.

* * *

Think it's worthy of a T rating? Was that hilarious enough for ya? Stay tuned for more!


	13. Arizona vs Tamaki

Sparring match time! Who can it be!

* * *

Arizona vs. Tamaki

At the training hall, there was only Arizona there, just practicing his kung-fu moves and getting a lot better each and everytime and he spent most of it punching the dummy, exercising as well as stretching himself up in each change he gets. Soon enough, he sees someone come down the stairs and to his surprise...it's Tamaki.

Arizona looked up at the white-striped orange tiger and he said, "Sup?"

Tamaki noticed that Arizona was catching his breath and he figured that he might've been training a little bit and he asked, "Been training?"

"Yep. I felt like I needed plenty of time to kill." Arizona answered.

Tamaki nods his head in understanding and he asked, "I don't suppose you need a sparring partner, do ya?"

Arizona looks up at Tamaki for a second and he could see the tiger smirking from a mile away and that must've meant something and he asked, "What are you suggesting?"

"Me...you...let's see how your skills really are." Tamaki replied.

Arizona knew where this was going...Tamaki wants to spar with him and Arizona lets out a smirk and said, "I knew something was up. You're on."

Tamaki stood there, taking his stance while glaring at Arizona while Arizona stares at him and does a stance of his own and he said, "You don't want none of this."

"I was gonna say the same thing to you." Tamaki added.

Arizona immediately charged at Tamaki and just leaped up in the air and kicked him straight in the stomach and then punched him in the jaw, but Tamaki gave enough force to grab Arizona's fist and flip him across the training hall with all he's got. Arizona gets himself up and growls at Tamaki and immediately took him down with a simple wolf punch and kick towards the stomach and he gives Tamaki a big bash in the head with his leg.

For some reason, Tamaki stood on his feet at every chance he gets and he comes after Arizona and does a flip-kick and swung him down with his feet and kicks him in the jaw. The grey wolf fell down, but Arizona wasn't gonna give up that easily.

"Man, you're pretty quick." Tamaki said.

"So are you." Arizona added.

Tamaki was determined to finish this and so was Arizona and both of them charged at each other, each punching each other in the stomachs and ended up falling back down to their feet. Arizona did a flip as he dodged all of Tamaki's flips, slid underneath Tamaki's legs and tripped him down to the floor.

Tamaki growls and trips Arizona down the ground and bodyslammed him down to the ground, but Arizona ain't having it. He punched him straight to the shin and when Tamaki fell down to the ground, Arizona stuck his foot on his stomach to prevent him from moving.

"Surrender?" asked Arizona, with a smirk.

Tamaki chuckled softly at this and replied, "Not really."

Tamaki unsheathed his claws and grabs Arizona's leg, in which he lets out a loud howl and trips him down to the ground and then punches, kicks, flips and beats him down and ended up pinning him to the wall, both panting heavily.

"I've been training all my life, so don't underestimate me." Tamaki answered.

Arizona lets out a heavy pant and he said, "Man, you have got the better moves."

"So do you."

Tamaki then lets go of Arizona and he then told him, "Let's call it a draw."

"I'm with you on that. I don't think I've ever had my butt kicked by someone like you...besides Tigress or Max." Arizona said.

"Well...I can hold my own against her. Don't tell her this, but I've beaten her several times before and I'm also stronger than Takami." Tamaki said.

"Man, I'd like to see this brotherly spar sometime." Arizona chuckled.

"You might."

Arizona dusted himself off and he seemed to sense that Tamaki is now considered a good buddy of his right now and he said, "Hey, Tamaki..."

Tamaki turns to Arizona and he asked, "What?"

"I'd battle with you again...only if you wanna risk getting your butt kicked by me." Arizona said, with a smirk.

Tamaki smirked in response and he said, "I'd be crazy enough to turn down that next challenge."

* * *

This was inspired by a role play me and SpiritualLoneWolf XIII did via messaging, so hope you like it. And yes, there will be one-shot sparring matches in every chapter. So stay tuned for more!


	14. A Big Tiger Brother

A little bonding moment between Max and Tamaki.

* * *

A Big Tiger Brother

Tamaki walks towards the barracks to have some time to himself, but almost immediately...he sees Max in the kitchen by himself and as he enters inside the room, he seeks Max struggling to get some cookies as he climbs up towards the cupboards.

"Hey, you need some help?" asked Tamaki.

Max almost slipped and his claw held him towards the wooden cupboards and he looked down and saw Tamaki standing and he replied, "No thanks. I can get it myself."

"You sure? I mean...I don't want you to get hurt or anything." Tamaki replied.

"I've done it before whenever I visit here. It's really no big deal." Max said.

Max grunts in effort until he makes it to the top of the cupboards and grabs ahold of some cookies on the cookie jar and Max widens his eyes to see the sight of them and he picks up a few pieces of almond cookies and eats most of them and Tamaki asked, "You got them?"

"Uh-huh. They're yummy." Max said.

Tamaki chuckled softly and he said, "I wouldn't want you to get in trouble when Monkey catches you eating his cookies."

"Monkey said I could have some." Max said, with his mouth full.

Just then, Monkey comes in and sees Max up the top of the cupboards eating cookies and he looks up at Tamaki and asked, "How'd he get up there?"

"Climbing." Tamaki responded.

Monkey climbs up towards the cupboards and as he got there, he looks up at Max and said, "Hey, Max...how'd they taste?"

"Really yummy." Max replied, happily.

Monkey chuckled softly and he said to Max, "Hey...do me a favor. Next time when you ask me for some of my cookies, just let me get them for you, okay?"

"Okay." Max replied.

Max climbs ahold on Monkey's back and he felt the small weight coming on him and he said, "You've grown, haven't you?"

"Sorta. My dad says I'm gonna grow a growth spurt. What's a growth spurt?" asked Max.

Monkey clears his throat and said, "It's where you grow a little taller and a little bigger."

"Like Po?" asked Max.

Monkey chuckled and replied, "No...not like Po. His growth spurt his been fulfilled. Hang on tight, little buddy."

Monkey then climbed all the way down until they reach the floor and Max gets off of Monkey's back and said, "Thanks."

"No problem. You've got a lot of climbing skills for a little cub. But I hope you won't get yourself hurt." Monkey added.

"Max said that he have done it before." Tamaki replied.

Monkey seemed very surprised that no one even knew that Max has done it before and he patted Max's head and said, "Next time, just ask me."

Max nodded his head as Monkey left the kitchen, leaving Max and Tamaki standing there in the kitchen, both tigers looking at each other. Tamaki then said, "So...how long have you known them?"

"Since last year. At first...I was kinda scared because I thought they might be strangers, but I was okay with Musaki and Arizona around me because I felt like I can be around them whenever I'm afraid." Max said.

Tamaki sits down on the table as Max sits down as well and Tamaki asked, "Afraid of what?"

Max wasn't really sure if he should tell Tamaki about this and when he stared at him, Tamaki could sense that he was a little afraid and he places his paw around Max's and he said, "You can tell me."

"Are you sure?" asked Max, timidly.

"Yeah. Think of me as your big brother." Tamaki said.

Max tilted his head in confusion and he said, "I already have a big brother...Arizona."

"I know, but think of me as your big tiger brother." Tamaki stated.

Max wasn't quite sure about trusting Tamaki, but knowing that he's the same species as him, he felt that it would be a little bit easier to open up to him a little bit and he explained everything about him in the deepest way possible and for Tamaki to hear this coming from an eight year old, he couldn't imagine going through the same kind of pain he was put in.

Hearing about it from someone else is one thing, but to actually hear it from the person that's been through it...Tamaki sensed some courage in the young white tiger cub for coming forward to tell him this and Tamaki told him, "You're a fighter."

"I don't like to fight." Max said.

"No...I meant, you're very brave to talk about this with me and I know you've been through a lot." Tamaki added.

"I know." Max said.

Tamaki lifted up Max's chin and he said, "Hey...you've got a friend right now."

"Who?"

"In me, Maxie. I can tell you need another big brother figure and I want to fill that in for you." Tamaki said.

Max could tell that Tamaki is willing to be here for him, even in times when Arizona's busy and stuff like that and Tamaki said, "That doesn't mean I'll replace Arizona. Me and him will be here for you with whatever you need, even if it's company or whatever. We'll be here for you."

"Promise?" asked Max.

"I promise." Tamaki replied.

In response, Max have Tamaki a hug and lets out a single purr and Tamaki held him tightly and it seems as though Tamaki does see Max as a bonus little brother and he knows that he'll keep that promise and will take that role as a big tiger brother very well.

* * *

Seems as though Tamaki sees Max as his big tiger brother. I decided to put in this sweet moment between Tamaki and Max. Until the next...


	15. Kaizer Meets Max

On the last few chapters, Arizona has told the Hazards, Kaizer and Hope about Max...so I thought it'd be awesome to have Kaizer meet Max first.

* * *

Kaizer Meets Max

Early sunset comes by and at the Sacred Peach Tree, Kaizer sits alone underneath the tree as he always does and as he watches the sun go down, he feels some wind blowing through his fur and his whiskers as well, but he doesn't care. For Kaizer, it's his only time he gets some space for himself because he's used to being around loneliness a lot in private.

The teenaged former assassin white tiger then heard someone coming and he might've thought it was either Hope or Faith coming in to check on him, but to his surprise...it was only a young white tiger cub coming by completely unaware that Kaizer was there and sits down on the edge of the tree where he is.

The young cub then scoots over towards the side of the tree and accidently bumped into someone and as he turned around, he sees Kaizer staring at him, which made the cub a little jumpy.

"I'm sorry. I...I thought that I was alone."

"So was I." Kaizer said, emotionless.

The cub then puts his paws in his pockets for a bit and he noticed that Kaizer is also a white tiger...only much older and a little taller. He took a closer look at him and Kaizer could see that he's still here and asked, "What?"

"You're...you're a white tiger just like me."

Kaizer looks at himself for a second and he turned to the cub and said, "Yeah...meaning?"

"Meaning...we're kinda the same."

Though Kaizer never saw it, he did have to admit that he's never seen another white tiger besides his parents and he never expected to meet one, but much younger and things like that. The cub then said, "Why are you out here all alone?"

Kaizer then turned to the cub and he said, "Listen...I think it's better if you stay away from me right now."

"Why?"

Kaizer was starting to become easily agitated, but tried to keep his cool down and just told him, "Because I might be dangerous."

Kaizer then turned away from him because he wouldn't blame him if he did leave, but for some reason...the cub stayed right where he was much to Kaizer's surprise and he was surprised that he didn't run away or backed out like anyone else would. He then asked him, "Why aren't you running away from me? Shouldn't you be afraid of me?"

The cub looks up at Kaizer and without hesitation, he replied, "No."

Kaizer blinked his eyes twice as he stared at him and he asked, "What's your name, cub?"

"Maximius Bushido-Akio...but everyone calls me Max."

Kaizer's eyes then widened after hearing that name coming out and he asked, "Say that name again?"

"Max."

Shock gave way to Kaizer as he heard that name several times before and he had no idea that he would actually meet the cub that was molested by his own mother front and center. Max then tilted his head to the side and he asked, "Are you okay?"

Kaizer eventually got back to reality and snapepd out of it and said, "I...I-I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare at you like that."

"It's okay." Max replied.

Kaizer then lets out a big sigh and he said, "Arizona has told me about you already...and he's told me about what you went through with your mother."

Max froze for a second and never expected that someone would know about it and he lowered his ears down and asked, "You already know?"

"Yeah. I...I had no idea that someone would do that to you." Kaizer said, in a soft voice.

Max then takes a deep sigh and said, "I'm trying to forget that."

Kaizer then scoots over to make room for Max and as the cub sat down next to him, Kaizer asked him, "How are you forgetting about it?"

"I try not to think about it...but everytime I try not to, it always comes back and it scares me a lot." Max said.

Just hearing that Max said in every detail completely broke Kaizer's hidden heart to know that an 8 year old cub has suffered through this and even though it's all over, the past never goes away very easily and comes back twice as hard. It was like a quick connection immediately sparked between the two white tigers and Kaizer's never met anyone like Max before.

"What happens if you do?" asked Kaizer.

Max sighed heavily and replied, "Thinking about it makes me sad...and scared too. And almost every night, I would get nightmares."

To hear an eight year old say this makes Kaizer realize that he had a lot more suffering than he had, but in different directions. He then lets out a deep exhale and he said, "I'm so sorry."

"Why? It wasn't your fault." Max said.

"No...for going through a lot." Kaizer corrected.

"Oh..."

Kaizer could empathize with Max a little bit because from looking at his face, he reminds him of himself when he was that younger and Max took a look at his face and saw some scars on Kaizer's face and asked, "Where'd you get those cuts?"

Kaizer didn't want to tell Max how he really got them because it would be just too personal for him and he replied, "Cut myself."

"Did it hurt?"

"A lot. But...I'm used to it."

Max then looks at him and said, "What happened to your parents?"

Kaizer knew this one was coming and he didn't know how to tell him what really happened and said to him, "They were killed by a...by a monster."

Max comes towards him and he said, "I'm sorry."

Now it was Kaizer's turn to repeat what Max told him and he said, "Why are you sorry? It's got nothing to do with you."

"No, I mean...I'm sorry your parents died." Max added.

Kaizer then pats Max's head and said, "Don't worry about me, little guy."

Max then hugs Kaizer and it was really unexpected for the teenage white tiger for him to do that, but as soon as Max started purring, Kaizer assumed that it was for pity but in actuality...the little cub does care for him. Kaizer then hugged Max back...something that he's never had to do before.

'This little cub has been through a lot more worse than me. Why do I suddenly...care for him? What's this feeling I have?' Kaizer thought.

And then it hit him...Kaizer's heart has warmed up just from meeting Max. He doesn't know why...but just by looking at him and hearing him purr, he doesn't want that feeling to go away and that it could be the start of warming up his buried heart.

Kaizer purred back in response and thought to himself, 'This is what it feels like to care for someone.'

* * *

Heartwarming, I know. The Hazards can weigh in on this chapter as well...including Kaizer. Hope ya like it!


	16. Musaki vs Hope

It's another sparring scene! Between Musaki and the Phoenix Warrior! This is gonna be good!

* * *

Musaki vs. Hope

The following day, Hope went into the training hall to practice his moves and as soon as he came in, he sees Musaki doing some meditating on his own and he didn't want to disturb him in any way, so he quietly tiptoed over towards the stairs, but Musaki already knew that he was here and he said, "Morning, Hope."

Hope was deeply surprised that Musaki knew he was here without even opening his eyes and he said, "How'd you know it was me?"

"Your tiptoed claws gave way." Musaki answered.

Hope felt a little embarassed about that and he lets out a slight chuckle and said, "Sorry about that."

Musaki opened his eyes and he stood up and said, "It's okay. In fact, I'm actually glad you're here."

"You are?" asked Hope, confusedly.

Musaki chuckled softly at that and he turned to Hope and he said, "Spar with me."

Hope stared at Musaki in a confused look and asked, "Huh?"

"I'd be completely honored to spar with the Phoenix Warrior. I want to see if your skills are really what they are." Musaki replied.

Hope finally knew that he was getting at...Musaki's challenging him to a sparring match to see who's got the biggest strength and the brown bear couldn't miss this opportunity at all and he lets out a smirk and said, "It's on."

Hope began his basic stance as he prepares himself to get Musaki and he immediately charged at him and punched him in the stomach and kicks him in the jaw and Musaki responded with grabbing the bear's ankle, making him trip and throws him around the air and flips him numerous time and kicks him in the face hard.

The brown bear got back on his feet and leaped up in the air and attacked Musaki in the back and shoved him down towards the ground. Musaki got up and looked up at the bear and realized that he has the strength of a skilled master and said, "Man, you're just like Po."

"Only younger and stronger." Hope replied.

Musaki chuckled softly and replied, "Yeah, we'll see about that."

Musaki got back to where Hope was and the two continued to spar with each other and Musaki dodged every single kick, punch, swing and shove Hope attempted to do and he was free to punch Hope back and swing him around the neck and kick him towards the bear's waist.

Hope looked like he was gonna give in, but he's gonna keep going no matter what it takes and he tries it again and he kicks Musaki in the shin and crushed his entire body down and kicks him straight in the jaw.

Musaki groans and gets himself back up and tries to go at him again and he continously punched, kicked and slammed him down as hard as he went and when it came to throw him around, Hope flipped the script and instead, threw Musaki around in the air and then when he fell down, he kicks Musaki straight to the face again and landed on the wall.

Musaki gets himself up and he looks up to Hope and sees that he's won the spar and figures that there was no surprise that he's the true Phoenix Warrior with moves like that as he comes towards him and said, "You're the real deal, aren't ya?"

"Everything I learned from the Dragon Warrior." Hope replied.

Musaki smiled at that and he said, "Looks like Po has taught you well."

Hope sticks out his paw for a handshake and Musaki accepted it with no hesitation whatsoever and he said, "I bet you kick Kaizer's butt a couple of times."

"Don't tell him this...but there were times that I beat Kaizer at his own game when he spars with me and I kick him where he doesn't want to get kicked. It always works everytime." Hope said.

Musaki snickered at that thought, but both of them were surprised that a shocked and furious Kaizer stood in front of him, obviously hearing what Hope had said and he asked, "Say that again?"

Hope nervously waved at Kaizer and he thought to himself, 'Why didn't you just shut up?'

* * *

I thought it'd be funny to leave it that way. Gots more coming up and Hazards...weigh in!


	17. Would You Rather

Another game night for Musaki, Arizona and the Hazards.

* * *

Would You Rather?

At the barrcks one evening, Musaki and Arizona were hanging with Takami and most of the gang to just chat and joke with each other mostly and then, Musaki looks up at everyone and he said, "All right...who's up for another game?"

Most of them were intrigued to hear that Musaki's got another game that they're very eager to participate in and all of them wanted in on it and Musaki said, "Cool. I've done this with the Five and Po before and it's called 'Would You Rather?."

"Would I rather what?" asked Kaizer, confused.

Hope began laughing at this and playfully punched Kaizer in the arm and said, "Good one, Kai! And you said you weren't funny."

Kaizer lets out a dangerous growl as he glared at him and he said, "I'm still not."

Musaki clears his throat to calm the situation down and he said, "Relax, guys...it's a game where I ask you guys would you rather and I just throw in some random stuff and you guys have to answer to that question."

Everyone became enthusiastic about this game and thought that it'd be a lot of fun and Musaki said, "All righty...I'll ask the questions and then I'll go around everyone in this circle to ask would you rather and after my turn, everyone else has theirs. Sound fun?"

They nodded their heads and with that, the game's about to begin. Musaki looks over to see who's going first and he said, "Faith's gonna be the first one to be asked. Would you rather...date either Hope, Ryo, Kiba or Kaizer?"

Faith blushed at the thought of that one question and she said, "I'd choose Hope. Because he's really, really cute. Kiba; we're still best friends. Ryo...I'll let Skyler take care of him because...he farts on his sleep. Kaizer...well, he's too quiet."

Ryo became a little offended at the fact that Faith pointed out that he farts on his sleep and he said, "When did you even see me fart?"

"I didn't, but I smelt it and heard it every night." Faith pointed out.

Skyler couldn't help but laugh at this and she said, "Sounds like Po's not the only one that lacks in personal hygiene."

Ryo lets out a soft mutter towards Skyler as he folded his arms like a 2 year old and then, Musaki turns to Kiba and asked, "Okay...Kiba. Would you rather...be a panda or a tiger for a day?"

Kiba thought about it for a second and he responds, "I'd be a tiger for a day because some of my friends are tigers and I would love to see what it would feel like for a day."

"Trust me, Kiba...you wouldn't even wanna know what tigers are capabale of." Takami pointed out.

"I could if I want to." Kiba replied.

Musaki then turns his attention to Hope and he asked, "Hope...would you rather be a dancer or a singer?"

Hope chuckled softly and he replied, "I could do both. I dance good and sing really well."

Hope then clears his throat and lets out a few vocals out and most of them were surprised that Hope sings really well and his dancing completely blew them away...even Kaizer. Hope then sits back down and he said, "If I wasn't the Phoenix Warrior, I'd be a singing and dancing bear."

"I'd come by and support you if I see you perform." Faith said, with a giggle.

Hope blushed a little bit and lets out a small giggle as well and said, "Thanks."

"Get a room, both of you." Ryo barked.

Musaki then turns to Ryo and he asked, "Yo, Ryo...would you rather have kids?"

Ryo froze at that thought for a minute and he responded, "I think I have yet to think about that...but I would hope to be a good dad someday. As soon as I learn how to control my darkness because I don't want to hurt or scare my cubs in any way."

"And would the mother be Skyler?" asked Musaki.

Skyler then clears her throat and he said to Musaki, "Even if I'd carry Ryo's cubs, he'd still be a puppy."

Ryo ignored that comment and just stayed silent through it and with that, Musaki then asked Skyler, "So...Skyler, would you rather have either Po or Viper be your mentor?"

"I'd say Viper. She's already my master and she's like the best person to be mentored with and it's an honor to train under her." Skyler responded.

Musaki then turned to Tamaki and he said, "Tamaki, would you rather kiss a girl in your future?"

Tamaki began blushing at that part and Takami instantly saw that blush come out of his older brother and he said, "Tamaki...did you just blush?"

"Uh...no." Tamaki lied.

"I saw that, tough guy." Musaki pointed out.

Tamaki then turns to Musaki and he decided to come in the clear and responded, "Only if she's interested in me. It would be pretty hard to find here in the Valley."

"What do you mean hard to find? I met Layla when I ran towards the Valley and look at us now." Takami retorted.

Tamaki rolled his eyes at his little brother and he said, "That's different for me."

Musaki then turned to Takami and he said, "So...Takami...would you rather have a little brother of your own?"

Takami wasn't really sure how to answer this one and he said, "I'm not sure if my mom would want another cub. But...I'm hoping that it would happen. Besides, I'm more closer to Kaila more than anything...even though she does get on my nerves."

"She's not the only one." Tamaki muttered.

Takami had heard that come out of his older brother and felt like it was directed towards him and lets out a small growl and Musaki shifted attention from Takami to Layla and he asked, "Would you rather...be Takami for a day?"

Layla looks up at her boyfriend and she then replied, "Not really sure about that. I mean, I've never put myself in a boys' position before. But answering to your question...yes, I would. And Takami would have to be me for a day."

Takami looks up at Layla for that and he asked, "I'd have boobs, would I?"

Layla smiles at him and she said, "And I'd have your muscular chest."

Musaki clears his throat and he said, "Moving on...Kaizer? Would you rather get your first kiss from Felicity?"

Kaizer gasped in shock as soon as Musaki asked him that question about Felicity and Hope making kissing noises and then, he turns to Musaki and said, "Felicity and I are just friends. That's it. Nothing more."

Musaki shifted his attention towards Arizona and he said, "Zona...you're the last one, dude. Would you rather take Max in if you were his father?"

Arizona cleared his throat and replied, "If I was a dad and I saw Max out there being chased by those wolves that tormented him...I'd save him from them and I'd take him in. So...yeah, I would take him in and raise him as if he were my own son. The bond me and Max has is unlike any other and not many people would see a wolf bonding with a tiger cub, but I don't really care. I love Max and I'd give my life for him."

Hope looks up at Arizona completely inspired and in awe and he asked, "You really like this kid, don't you?"

"Of course. He's my buddy." Arizona replied.

Kaizer then clears his throat and he said, "I met Max the other day. I didn't realize how much this kid went through until I met him and I thought that he was scared of me, but obviously he wasn't. He was just this little cub and for some odd reason...I felt like we could relate to each other."

Arizona chuckled and he said, "It's surprising to me that you're the same breed, but I'm sure that when you get to know Max...you can't help but feel for the little guy."

"But...I don't feel anything." Kaizer explained.

"Not yet. But you will."

Kaizer has hidden the fact that he has a deep amount of compassion for Max, but he doesn't want anyone else to know that yet because they'd see him as weak. Musaki then said, "All righty...now it's your turn to ask me what would I rather do."

Everyone was excited to go forward with this and Faith went in first and asked, "Would you rather kiss a girl?"

Musaki blushed at that thought and he said, "I actually have."

"Who was it?" asked Tamaki.

"Summer. She's an old friend of mine at the orphanage...though we didn't get a chance to play with each other, she's really beautiful. We reunited at a valentine's day dance, started dating and we've been together ever since I got older." Musaki explained.

"I'm pretty sure you guys are completely happy." Faith said.

"Yep."

Kiba then said, "My turn! Musaki...would you rather be a leader of the Furious Five for a day?"

"Um...yeah. I'd pretty much make a good leader of the Five, but I certainly wouldn't wanna follow Tigress' footsteps. I'd completely be patient, understanding, stern when need to be and also encouraging. As for most of the leadership skills she has...I'll take a few of them, but I wouldn't punch hardwood trees for 20 years or impress Shifu every day. Perfectionism is for the weak, though." Musaki stated.

"Sounds like you could be a new generation for the Five." Arizona stated.

It was Hope's turn and he asked, "Would you rather be a dragon?"

Musaki smirked at the thought and he said, "Yep. I'd fly, breathe fire and make Tigress wet herself."

Takami began to snicker at that thought and he said, "I'd love to see that happening."

Ryo started chuckling at that thought and he turned to Musaki and he said, "My turn now. Would you rather take down the biggest kung-fu master?"

"I would say yeah...but I don't wanna say it out too loud. But yeah, I would. Maybe give him the famous head-nut shot." Musaki replied.

"Just as long as it isn't mine." Ryo said, remembering the time he got his nuts crushed by Musaki.

Skyler began to snicker and said, "I would love to use that the next time you get on my case. Musaki...would you rather have super strength or the power of healing?"

"Healing powers. I'd help out people who are hurt or wounded and the injury will go away quickly. As for super strength...I could live without it." Musaki replied.

It was Tamaki's turn and he asked Musaki, "Would you rather take down Po or Shifu?"

"No contest. I'd take down Po. I'll leave Shifu for you on this one, Tamaki." Musaki answered.

Tamaki quietly cursed himself after Musaki's statement and then, Takami looks up at Musaki and asked, "Would you rather continue to live in the Jade Palace or find your own place to live?"

Musaki figured that this would be a hard choice to make and he said, "I don't really know. On one hand, it would be awesome to go back to Shanghai Secluded Valley and live there...but on the other hand, I would love to spend a little longer at the Jade Palace with my adopted family...just for a little bit longer."

Layla then asked him, "Would you rather go on a dangerous mission with Tigress or Viper?"

"Viper. I think with Tigress around, it would make the journey a little difficult if it was just me and her because I wouldn't cope with it." Musaki replied.

Then, it was Kaizer's turn and he asked, "Would you rather choose forgiveness or revenge if a person did something to hurt you?"

Musaki pondered on that one for a second and he said, "I would choose forgiveness. Revenge is like planning to make your misery theirs and it's not really a good feeling. So...it's easier for me to choose forgiveness and have the willpower to apologize. Most people find it hard to apologize and I do admit that it is hard...but what good would revenge do? Tigress believes in revenge and I believe in forgiveness."

"It sounds like you and Tigress have a love-hate relationship." Layla added.

"Sort of a sibling rivalry...only Tigress is more violent and stuff. In any situation, I'd forgive her no matter what and she would think about payback against me, but I know better not to be in the middle of it so I let it go." Musaki answered.

Arizona looks at Musaki in awe and he said, "Looks like you're mature than that."

"And Tigress isn't." Kiba spat out.

Arizona clears his throat and said, "Now it's my turn. Would you rather see your parents again?"

Musaki lets out a smile on that one and he said, "There's a 100 percent chance that I might. It could probably be later on in my life when I pass away that I'm looking forward to see them again. I don't fear death like I used to and I shouldn't because knowing that my parents would wait for me...I'd be excited for it. Until then...I'm quite happy with the people I'm with right now."

Everyone's heartstrings have been completely tugged after hearing what Musaki said and it even put Kiba to tears after hearing that and he looks at him and said, "What you just said...made me think of my dad. He passed away when I was a pup and I think it makes me appreciate everything I have; the friends I have, the life I have...I'm sure my dad would be very proud of me."

"He's proud of both of us. Yours and mine." Musaki said.

On that heartfelt note, everyone else kept going throughout the evening until it was time for dinner as they made their way to the kitchen.

* * *

Now, was that hilarious enough for ya? Hazards, weigh in! And stick around for more!


	18. Playing Tag

We now focus on Max and the young cubs playing tag and who would've guessed boredom would be so funny...and crazy?

* * *

Playing Tag

Early in the afternoon while everyone's out training, Kovu, Borko and Max were sitting around the kitchen, feeling a little bored and Max started to yawn a little bit and Kovu looked at him and said, "Yeah, me too."

All of a sudden, in comes Kalia walking in the kitchen and she sees the boys sitting there and said, "Hi, guys."

"Hey." they said.

Kalia then sat next to Kovu and said, "Hi, Kovu."

Kovu chuckled a little and said, "Hey, Kalia."

"Whatcha guys doing?" asked Kalia.

"Nothing. Just bored." Borko replied.

She then thinks up of a boredom free solution and she snapped her fingers and asked, "You guys wanna play tag?"

That seemed to brighten Max the most and he replied, "Yeah. Kovu gets to be it this time."

Kovu scoffs at this and said, "Why do I gotta be it?"

"Because I was it the last time we played...and I was always it. This time, I want someone else to be it." Max answered.

* * *

At the courtyard

Max, Kalia, Borko and Kovu sat around a circle and knowing fully intent that Max picked Kovu to be it, he started chasing Kovu around the courtyard and he could see Kovu running a lot faster, so he went extra fast as far as he could go and almost immediately, Max gained on the brown cub and he grabs his tail and shouted, "You're it again!"

Kovu groans at this and figured that he had gotten chased around and wanted to chase Max, but he had something else in mind...he was gonna flip the script on Max and ended up chasing him instead. Max did not realize that Kovu was gonna chase him again, but just went along for it anyway and hopes that someone else will tag him.

He then got back to where Kalia and Borko are and when he sat in between them, Kovu tagged Borko and chased him around as well. Borko began to pick up speed as he was gaining on Kovu and when the brown cub noticed this, he was determined to not get himself tagged so he just kept going faster and faster and the same went with Borko and then...

He leaped towards Kovu and pinned him towards the ground and said, "Pinned ya."

Kovu then pins Borko down in a surprising twist and said to him, "You're it, Borko!"

"Hey, that's not fair!" Borko exclaimed.

Borko gets himself up and he sees Kalia and he's hoping that it's her chance to be it and when she could sense it, Kalia immediately began running around the courtyard as Borko chases her down, but unlike Kovu and Borko, Kalia ran a lot more faster than the boys and her brothers combined. Borko was a little worried that's getting a lot quicker and is determined to not get tagged, so he kept going and going.

Then, she went back with Max and Kovu, but in between Kovu and Borko leaps up and lands on Max and when Borko realizes this, he said to him, "I guess you're it."

Max groans heavily and asked, "Again?"

"Max must not like being it." Kalia said.

Max had no other choice but to chase Borko, so he opted the chance to chase him around the courtyard and he said, "I'm gonna get you!"

"In your dreams, Maxie!" Borko exclaimed.

Max went as fast as he could to chase him around the courtyard and all of a sudden, Borko leaps up on the roof of the training hall and Max could not believe that Borko would do a sneaky trick like that.

"You can't get me!" Borko taunted.

Max lets out a small growl and proceeded to climb up there and chase him around, but unbeknownst to Max...Borko was already gone and he assumed that he might've been hiding, so he decided to wait around until he sees him to pounce on him.

Meanwhile, Borko snuck down from the roof and hid towards the other side and proceeded to sneak away while Max is up on the roof and when he heard the door open, he thought that maybe Borko surrended himself.

"We'll see who's it now." Max whispered.

Just then, he lets out a slight roar as he leaps out of the roof with his claws unsheathed and once he saw that it was Tigress standing there...

"Uh-oh."

He pinned her down to the ground with his claws inches from her head and shoulder and scratched her face, much to the surprise of everyone else standing there. Max suddenly sees that he clawed Tigress in the face...again.

Max slowly backed away and he said, "I'm sorry. It...it was an accident. I...I...I didn't mean to..."

Tigress growled at Max and wanted to beat the living snot out of him and said, "You better run."

"I said I'm sorry!" Max pleaded.

"Max...you're gonna be sorry when I use you as a scratching post!" Tigress screamed.

Just when Tigress was gonna do the unthinkable, Arizona got in the middle of this and stood in front of Max to defend him and said, "That's enough, Tigress."

"Move, Arizona!" Tigress exclaimed.

Arizona lets out a ferocious bark and growled, "He said it was an accident."

"There are no accidents! Now get out of my way before you force me to do it for you!" Tigress growled.

"Leave...my tiger brother...alone...before you do something you'll seriously regret." Arizona barked, in a calm yet serious tone.

Tigress looked like he wasn't gonna back down any second and really wanted to exact revenge on Max, but Arizona knew when to keep calm under pressure and tense situations and that he would defend Max at all costs. Then, Tigress took a couple of steps back and calms herself down and realized that taking revenge on an eight year old would be ridiculous and she backed down on it.

Max then popped out and looked up at Arizona and said, "Thanks, Arizona."

"I got your back." Arizona added.

Tigress then went towards his level and said, "I apologize for my temper and I know now that it was an accident."

Max smiles and said, "Eh, no biggie. Besides, I would never put you in trouble when you destroyed Shifu's room and blamed it on Po."

Shifu twitched his eye after hearing what Max had said and the young cub covered his mouth and said, "Oops."

"Master Tigress..." Shifu said, sternly.

"Someone's in trouble." Kovu snickered.

* * *

That was crazy, huh? Notice that I put in Kovu, Borko and Kaila in this chapter...so the rest of the Hazards, please forgive me for this. You can still weigh in as witnesses. Stick around for more!


	19. Max Meets Hope

So...we had where Kaizer meets Max first. So I thought that maybe Max should meet the Phoenix Warrior.

* * *

Max Meets Hope

Hope makes his way to the Sacred Peach Tree and once he got there, he was surprised to find that someone was here before him and indded...he saw the little tiger cub sitting around under the peach tree, eating a few peaches.

He then recognized the young cub that Arizona mentioned and figured that it was really him as he looked at the bengal tiger cub and he asked, "You're Max, aren't you?"

"Uh-huh. My full name is Maximus Bushido-Akio." Max replied.

Hope chuckled for a second and sat next to the young white tiger cub and he said, "My name's Hope Xing-Fu Haruki...but everyone calls me Hope."

"Nice to meet you." Max said.

Max then looks up at Hope for a second and he asked, "You're a bear, aren't ya?"

"Yeah. I'm a brown bear." Hope replied.

"Wow..."

Hope smiled at him for a second and he said, "How old are you?"

"I'm eight years old. I'll be nine in a couple of months." Max replied.

"I'm 15 years old...but I'll be 16 pretty soon." Hope said, with a smile.

Hope then sees that this is definitely the kid that Arizona mentioned a couple of times and that he's a lot different than what he expected and he remembers the fact that Arizona had said that he had been molested by his own mother and was abandoned and orphaned. He had thought that he would be sad and bitter, but he was completely opposite after meeting him. He's completely happy, full of energy and very friendly.

"What do you wanna be when you grow up?" asked Hope.

Max looks at Hope and replied, "Just like my dad."

"Really?" asked Hope, in a surprised tone.

"Uh-huh. I wanna adopt a bunch of kids the same way my dad did." Max replied.

Hope widened his eyes for a second and he could see the pure innocence and joy that's bursting out of this kid and he lets out a chuckle and said, "Your wolf brother's right. You are pretty cool to be around."

"Who, Arizona? He's like my best friend and big brother all in one." Max said.

Only a couple of minutes after meeting Max and already Hope is starting to grow attached to him like his own little brother sorta like how he sees Kaizer...only a lot different. Just then, Arizona walks in and he sees Hope and Max sitting in the Peach Tree and he said, "Thought I'd find you guys here."

"Hey, Arizona." Max said.

Max came over to him and gave Arizona a hug, in which the young grey wolf happily accepts and Hope sees this brotherly bond showcased in front of him and said, "He must really like you."

"He's a joy to be around." Arizona said.

Hope then clears his throat and he said to Max, "Arizona has already told me things about you already and I really wanted to meet you a lot."

"What did he tell you about?" asked Max.

Hope knew that he would hesitate about this particular matter and he said, "About...your mom. I'm really sorry."

Max looks up at Hope and he said, "Don't worry about it. I've gotten over that. I got a family, great friends...I like how my life is and I wish it would stay like this."

Not long after, Samurai walks over to the Peach Tree and he sees Arizona, Max and Hope there and he said, "There you guys are. Hey, Max...we need to head home now."

"Aw..." all three exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know, but you guys will see him tomorrow." Samurai added.

Max then came towards Samurai and he said to Hope, "It's nice to meet you."

"You too, little guy. Hope to see you tomorrow." Hope said, happily.

Samurai then turns to Hope and he said, "You're the Phoenix Warrior, right? I'm Samurai Kiyosho Bushido-Akio. But everyone else calls me Sam, Sammy or Rai."

"Yep, that's me. Nice to meet you." Hope said, shaking Hope's hand, much to Samurai's excitement.

"Man, my brothers are gonna be so jealous." Samurai said.

Samurai and Max left the Peach Tree, each saying their byes to each other and after they left, Hope looks up at Arizona and he said, "He's lucky to have you."

"Yeah, Max is a very strong kid, but he's more than that...he brightens up everyone that he meets." Arizona explained.

"He certainly brightened up my day." Hope answered.

* * *

Looks like Hope is growing attached to little Max. Was that cute or what? Stay tuned for more!


	20. A Cheetah and a Tiger Cub

A little bonding moment with Max and Faith.

* * *

A Cheetah and a Tiger Cub

Early in the afternoon, Faith was doing some training on her own at the training hall, just doing some brilliant stances and also containing her ice powers in the process while practicing her cheetah style. She went in and punched the dummy out numerous times as well as concentrating on her ice powers a little more.

Just then, Max slowly walked down the steps and saw Faith practicing and he was amazed by how she does them, but what met his eyes surprised him...she brought in her ice powers and began to keep control of them...which made Max widen his eyes in wonder.

Max took a closer look and as soon as he walks out, he didn't realize that he was almost in the way of Faith's ice powers and when it shot up out of her, he quickly dodged and flipped past it to prevent him from getting frozen. It definitely caught Faith's attention quickly.

"Max! Are you okay?" asked Faith.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Max replied.

Faith lets out a sigh of relief and Max said, "Sorry if I got in the way."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. I didn't know you were here. I should be sorry. I almost used my ice powers to freeze you." Faith said, in a gentle voice.

Max smiled at the cheetah and said, "It's okay. You have ice powers?"

Faith became a little hesitant to respond to that question and she said, "Yes."

"Cool..." Max said, in awe.

"You...saw it?" asked Faith, embarassedly.

"Uh-huh. It was awesome."

Faith smiled at him and replied, "Thanks. I've never had someone compliment my powers...except for Hope, Shifu and the others."

Max looked at Faith in the eyes and he said, "I was actually looking for Arizona. Have you seen him?"

"He said he had to go do Shifu's errands and won't be back for a few hours, sweetie." Faith replied.

"Oh...okay." Max responded, sadly.

Faith could see Max's expression on his face and she places her paw on his shoulder and she said to him, "But don't worry. I'll keep you company until he comes back."

That seemed to lighten Max up a little bit and he said, "Okay."

"Also...I saw the flips and how you dodged my ice powers. It was unlike anything I've ever seen." Faith said, in awe.

Max didn't expect this to come out of Faith before and he seemed a little shy about it and said, "You really think so?"

"I know so. I think you might have a little bit of kung-fu in you." Faith said.

Max lets out a nervous exhale and he said, "I don't know..."

"Why?"

Max turns to Faith for a second and he said, "Can you keep a secret? I don't wanna do kung-fu."

That seemed to surprise Faith the most after she heard Max mention that he doesn't wanna do kung-fu and asked, "Why don't you?"

"Well...Master Tigress wanted to teach me a few things and sometimes I would mess up a few things and she would get mad at me after that. If I don't do it her way, she would spar with me for a week and I've gotten some bruises and cuts after that. That's sorta why I don't wanna learn kung-fu from her, but I haven't told her that I don't want her as my teacher anymore...so I gave it up." Max replied.

Faith was speechless to hear this and she told him, "That's awful."

"I know. I'd rather have someone else teach me than to get yelled at as 'punishment' for making a few mistakes...or get chased at...or have my face hit by those swinging things with the thorns." Max explained.

Faith didn't want to even want to see the last part playing in her head and she said, "Maybe I can teach you a few things."

Max wasn't really sure if it would be possible to do so and he asked, "You sure? Tigress said I'm unteachable."

"Well...you're teachable to me." Faith said, with a smile.

Minutes later, Faith brought in a basic stance to show Max and he does the same and she gave him a thumbs-up for support, making Max feel a little happy.

She then continues to teach him some kung-fu moves, but have to be kept to a minimal because of Max's age and height and in some parts, he makes a few mistakes and Faith corrects him, but is very patient, calm and compassionate towards the tiger cub, which made it easier for Max to learn how to do a few moves.

Max then does some jabs on Faith's paws to ensure that his punch is straightforward and as he went faster, she could see that Max is learning quite faster.

Just then, she gets in a little mini-spar with Max and puts his newfound skills to the test as Faith brought in some moves and Max dodges her punch and jabs as quickly as possible and he does a flip where he leaps past her and lands on the ground.

Max chuckles softly and Faith continues to go at it as Max does his best to dodge and then tumble underneath her legs and got in front of her. Faith smiled astonishedly that Max has got it down pat so quickly and continues to spar with Max for a couple of minutes and she ends up getting pounced on.

Faith stands up and is very amazed at what he's got so quickly and she smiled at him and said, "I am so proud of you, Max."

"Thank you." Max said, with a smile.

"You've got it in a short amount of time. I think you're now teachable." Faith added.

On that, Faith went in and gave Max a hug and he graciously accepted it as he lets out a small purr and she said, "If you need to learn more, just find me, okay?"

"Thanks. Do you know self-defense?" asked Max.

* * *

Later that day...

Faith and Max sat around the Peach Tree and Max became very open to Faith about him being picked on at the village about his size and Faith couldn't believe how much detail Max puts in and she said, "That's just terrible."

"Yeah, I know. Most of them said that I'm too small to do anything and that I'll always be a shrimp with stripes that won't do anything. I felt like I wanna prove them wrong, but I don't wanna fight back to prove it to them." Max added.

"I know how you feel. I used to get picked on a lot...and it's the worst feeling in the world. But I know better than to fight them to prove that I was better than them. You're a cool person and if they don't like it...it's their problem. You just have to tell yourself that you're cool and always will be no matter what people say about you." Faith said.

That seemed to boost up Max's self-confidence up a little bit and he said, "You think so?"

"I know so, Max." Faith said, patting his head.

Max then hugs her and said, "I wish you could be my mother."

Faith held him tightly and she was completely smiling at him and said, "You're a sweet tiger."

* * *

Was that sweet or what? Hazards, please weigh in on this!


	21. What's Cool About Me

Another one-shot involving Faith and Max. This takes after the last chapter...so this is a continuation from the previous.

* * *

What's Cool About Me

Faith and Max made their way back to the training hall some talking at the Peach Tree and Faith seems to take a liking to the little white tiger cub and they both sat down on the steps of the training hall and wanted to get to know a little more about him...minus the parts about his rough early childhood. She turns to Max and said, "You're probably the coolest tiger I've ever met before."

Max turned to Faith after hearing what she said about him and he said, "Yeah, I know...but sometimes I don't really feel that way."

"Oh, why?" asked Faith.

"Remember when I told you about those bullies that pick on me at the village? Sometimes they would say so many mean things to me and it would hurt my feelings a lot." Max replied.

"What do they call you?" asked Faith, in a concerned tone.

"Shrimp, doofus, lame, puny, dork, geek, doodyhead, doodyhead with black and white stripes and one that I really don't like to be called...striped freak." Max replied.

The latter part of those names that Max was called seemed to completely shock Faith the most and she couldn't imagine being put into his position and how so many of these kids would intentionally pick on someone like Max and she said, "Why would they call you these things?"

"I don't know. I didn't do anything to them." Max answered.

"But still...they had no right to call you things that aren't true." Faith stated.

Max sighed heavily and he said to her, "But...most times I ask myself that what if they're right? What if I am all of those things?"

Faith didn't want to hear this coming out of Max and she said, "No one thinks that way!"

"Then why do they call me all of those things they say?" asked Max.

Faith blinked her eyes and she could tell that it did have an effect on Max and that he's never told anyone about it except for her and she then said to him, "Some kids are just mean. And they think that by calling you names that that makes them cool. And the reason why is because they used to be picked on too so they take it out on someone else to hide their hurt feelings and want to feel like they're cool and being accepted. But I think it's for the wrong and stupid reasons and that won't get them anywhere in the future. Let me tell you what real cool is...it's to believe in yourself, not care what other people think of you and most importantly...to stay true to who you are no matter what. That's what real cool is."

That little speech completely brightened up Max a lot and he said, "Wow...I never thought about that before."

"You're already cool to me...after showing you some moves today. I'm actually surprised that you took an interest in kung-fu." Faith added.

"My dad told me that I need to do something cool to boost my confidence and self-esteem...whatever those are." Max added, with a chuckle.

Faith smiled back and she said, "There have been people who have been picked on before, but they turn out pretty good and they feel good about it; like Master Po, Master Shifu, the Furious Five, Takami, Ryo, Skyler, Kovu...pretty much everyone I can picture. And Arizona too. And you know what happened to all of them?"

"What?" asked Max.

"They turned out to be good kung-fu masters."

Max widened his eyes after that response and was completely blown away from it and he said, "So...if they can do it...I can too, right?"

"You can do anything." Faith said.

Max blinked his eyes and lets out a wide smile and he said, "I think you're cool too."

Faith giggles a little bit and responded, "And so are you. You have to tell youself that 'I'm cool, no matter what they say' every day."

"Okay."

Max clears his throat and said, "I'm cool no matter what they say!"

Faith cheered for Max and she said, "That's right, Maxie!"

Soon enough, in comes Takami, Ryo, Po, Tigress and Arizona coming in the courtyard and when Max saw Arizona come by, he quickly ran up to the grey wolf and gave him a hug...which was surprising, but Arizona accepted it anyway.

"I missed you." Max said.

Arizona patted his head and he said, "I've only been gone for like 2 hours."

They let go for a second and he asked them, "You wanna see something?"

"Sure, kid." Ryo replied.

Max took a deep breath and showed off a few kung-fu moves and when it came to the flips, kicks, twists, turns and spins along with some of the basic stances he's got, he acheieved every single move perfectly well much to the surprise of Po, Takami, Ryo, the amazement of Arizona and the shock and envy of Master Tigress.

"How was that?" asked Max.

Arizona was the first one to cheer for Max and he said, "All right, Maximus! Did you do that all by yourself?"

"I had some help." Max replied.

Po became completely speechless and Takami chuckled softly and said, "You've got a lot of stuff, kid."

"I'll say. I've never seen anything like it before." Ryo said, with a smile.

Tigress came over to Max and she said, "That's impossible! I thought I told you you're unteachable! What time-wasting idiot taught you the simple moves that I tried to teach you!?"

Faith clears her throat for a second and said, "Don't you mean...'Miss' time wasting idiot?"

Ryo and Takami let out a collective 'ooooh' and Arizona puts his fingers on his lips suggesting that she couldn't have said anything and Po said to her, "You got smoked by a cheetah."

"I taught Max a few things while you guys were gone and after a couple of lessions, I think he's impressive for someone his age and I think if he keeps this up, he'll be a master by the time he's like...20, crushing all the other kung-fu masters skills into dust." Faith responded.

Ryo and Takami were completely impressed with what Max has brought in and a little shocked that Faith took her time to teach an eight year old tiger cub a little bit of kung-fu and Takami got down to his level and said, "You made a believer out of me, man."

"Same as me." Ryo stated.

"If I was him...I would completely be a master right now." Takami added.

Arizona came towards Max and he said, "Come on, Maxie. Let's head to the training hall so you can show me those moves."

"Thanks, Faith. You're the best teacher ever." Max said, with a smile on his face.

Faith giggles for a sec and replied, "You're very welcome, Max."

That made Tigress growl in jealousy for a bit because she could've taught him the same way Faith did and Ryo said, "Someone's jealous."

"I don't get jealous." Tigress lied.

Ryo rolled his eyes at that and said, "I wasn't born yesterday. I know you're jealous that Max is better than you."

Max heard this and said, "I don't care what they think of me. Faith said that you, Takami, Po and Tigress were dorks and lame and felt good about it."

The reactions were both of shock and embarassment after Max said that and they turned to Faith...apparently in a mixture of offensiveness and humiliation and Ryo asked, "You told Max we were a little lame?"

"And dorks too?" asked Takami.

Faith fidgeted her fingers and said, "Only trying to build up Max's self-esteem here."

"Well, did you think about ours?" Po asked.

"For once, Po's actually right. Did you really think you should tell that to an eight year old?" asked Tigress.

Faith kept her cool steadily and said, "There was no offense to anyone or even intended to offend you guys any further. It was just an example of how you guys went through if you were in Max's position."

Takami, Ryo and Po quickly got the message as they looked back on what they went through individually and understood it right away, proving a good point at the end of it.

"She's right." Takami stated.

"Yeah, we've been outcasts before and we know what it's like...so I guess it's no big deal." Ryo agreed.

Just then, Arizona comes out of the training hall and he said, "Hey, Tigress...did you really kick Max so high that it bruised his face on one of those swinging clubs?"

Po seemed very shocked at this and asked, "You did what?!"

Tigress became absolutely dumbfounded after Arizona heard about that and she asked, "Who told you?"

"Max just told me." Arizona replied.

Tigress twitched her eye for a second and she started to get really angry about Max telling on Arizona what she did to him during her sessions with him and she roared, "MAAAAAAAAAAAAXXXXXXXXX!"

"I wouldn't be Max right now." Ryo whispered through Takami's ear.

* * *

I sorta thought this up to wrap up this chapter with hilarious results. Hazards, weigh in if you please and make sure Tigress doesn't chase down Max! Also, stick around for more!


	22. Arizona vs Ryo

A little sparring match between Arizona and Ryo. Two omegas duking it out...ending with a little bit of hilarious results. As well as a mischievous and hilarious side of Arizona like you nevr saw before.

* * *

Arizona vs. Ryo

Ryo made his way over to the Training Hall to get some training in and when he entered inside, he couldn't help but notice seeing Arizona training a little bit, gaining a lot more strength which made him amazed...and also a little intimidated. But he puts those things behind him and decided to put this to the test.

Arizona pauses for a second and takes a deep breath to catch his breath before he even gets back to training some more and that's where he noticed Ryo standing there and he said, "Sup?"

"Not much. Just hanging around." Ryo replied, nonchalantly.

Arizona could sense something in Ryo's eye that he was gonna do something soon and he tilted his head to the side and asked, "You sure? Sounds like you want something."

"Now that you mention it...I do."

"Which is...?" asked Arizona.

"Spar with me."

Arizona knew where Ryo was going with this and he could sense that he's gained a lot of strength and that it should be tested between these two and he asked, "Me, spar with you?"

"Yeah. Two Omegas sparring with each other." Ryo answered.

"Shouldn't you spar with Kiba?" asked Arizona.

"Yeah...I would, but I thought it'd be much fun if I sparred with someone I can relate with." Ryo stated.

Arizona wasn't too keen about this, but he's not the one to turn down a challenge that easily and he said, "Let's see what you got."

Seconds later, Ryo and Arizona were looking at each other, gazing their eyes on each other and when it was ready to go, Ryo charged head-first and headbutted Arizona, but Arizona missed by an inch as he ducked down under Ryo and ended up on the other side. Ryo turns around and realizes that his head almost hit the wall and when he turned around, he leaped over to Arizona and kicked him straight to the shin.

The grey wolf wasn't gonna take this lying down so he charged at the blackish wolf and kicked him straight in the jaw and flipped him numerous times and stomped his foot, making Ryo howl in pain and Arizona does an air kick to the muzzle, causing Ryo to fall down.

Ryo grunts heavily and he quickly got up from the ground, apparently frustrated that Arizona isn't going down and almost immediately, he accidently lets out his dark power to aim at Arizona, but Arizona immediately ducked down onto the floor and made a hole onto the wall of the training hall.

They both looked at what Ryo's 'power work' has done and looked at each other and Arizona said, "You're in so much trouble."

"Uh...wanna keep going?" asked Ryo.

"Yeah, at least no one will notice." Arizona agreed.

With that, Arizona and Ryo continued sparring with each other throwing multiple punches, kicks, throws, flips and complete twists to prove who's got the strongest skills and which one stands out the most and Arizona places himself on the floor with his legs on the air and begins spinning around, kicking Ryo in the face multiple times and then flips back and slams him down to the shin.

Ryo fought back with a simple uppercut to Arizona's tail and kicks him on the hind legs, but Arizona didn't fall on the floor because he made a solid flip and landed towards the other side of the training hall and smirks at him.

Ryo smirked back and run across parts of the hall, leaps up and grabs onto the swinging clubs to catch Arizona and when he got off, he kicks him straight in the chest and falls down to the ground, but Arizona refused to give him as he got up and grabs ahold of Ryo's paws, spins him around, throws him around and kicks him in the face.

Arizona chuckled softly and he said, "Guess I won."

Ryo stood up and he knew he hated to lose more than anything, but he had to give Arizona credit for being a good fighter. He dusted himself off and he said, "This is the first time I ever had my butt kicked by an Omega before."

"Yeah, I'm sure you did...but awesome spar, Ryo." Arizona said, shaking his hand.

"So...you think Shifu will have a fit on the hole in the wall we made?" asked Ryo, looking at the wall.

Arizona's response was simply looking into Ryo in the eyes, giving him an 'are you kidding me look' and asked, "We?"

Ryo chuckled softly at this and he said, "Sorry. I just don't wanna get in trouble with Shifu...again. So I thought..."

Arizona could see where this is going and he tells him, "Here's what I think of that idea."

3 minutes later...

Ryo was tied up on one of the swinging clubs with only his underwear on as he tried to set himself free and he said, "Aw, come on Arizona! I was just kidding!"

Ryo struggled to get himself off, but the rope wouldn't even budge and now he was tied up there, feeling trapped...and embarassed at the same time.

"Hello? Can someone get me down from here? I feel like my underwear is gonna slip off of me any second." Ryo pleaded.

The only thing Ryo could do is just let out few whimpers and said, "This is so embarassing. Maybe no one will see me hanging there."

Unfortunately for Ryo...

He sees Master Shifu coming in and to the grandmaster's shock...he saw Ryo tied up in the swinging clubs and in response, Ryo lets out a nervous chuckle and said, "Hey...Shifu."

"What are you doing up there?" asked Shifu.

"Long story..."

Just then, Shifu sees the hole in the training hall wall and he asked, "Who made that hole?"

Ryo whimpered for a second and he said, "That was my fault. My dark power made the handiwork while me and Arizona were sparring. I thought no one could notice and I was willing to share the blame with him, even though he didn't do anything so I thought...he should take the fall?"

Shifu looked up at Ryo after hearing that story and said, "Really? And how'd you get up there?"

"Um...after I told Arizona that we should share the blame of my stupidity...he sorta pulled my pants down and tied me up in the swinging clubs." Ryo answered.

Shifu stroked his beard after that and he said, "I would've come up with a simple punishment for leting your powers get the best of you after I witnessed that...but from what you told me, this is considered letting someone else take the blame for your actions."

"So...can you get me down from here? I could feel my butt cheeks touching the steel." Ryo asked, in an embarassed squeaky voice.

Shifu clears his throat and replied, "How long were you there?"

"5 minutes ago." Ryo replied.

Shifu chuckled softly and said, "Remind me to give Arizona credit for coming up with the punishment he made for me."

When Ryo saw Shifu leaving the training hall, he said, "You can't just leave me dangling up here, aren't you?"

"Think of this as a way of letting your powers get the best of you and next time, you won't attempt this foolish deed again. And also...you have to fix the hole you made." Shifu said, as he walked out.

Ryo tried to wriggle himself out of the swinging clubs, but to no avail. He was still stuck there and what's worse...his underwear fell out and landed into the ground. Ryo began groaning in embarassment and said, "This is not my day..."

* * *

If only Skyler could see this now...along with the Hazards. In fact...weigh in! We got more coming up! Was this funny or what?!


	23. Ice Cream Eaters

Who would've thought that eating ice cream would drive into a crazy-fest?

* * *

Ice Cream Eaters

A simple afternoon in the Jade Palace where Musaki and Max came inside the kitchen and decided to indulge themselves in something sweet and creamy and Max asked, "Hey, Musaki...you guys have any ice cream here?"

"We always do...and most times we tend to hide it from Po because he has an ice cream fix." Musaki replied.

"How much ice cream does Po eat?" asked Max.

Musaki looks around to see if there's any and he responded, "Between the two buckets for a day and seven buckets for an entire week...a trillion."

"Wow. That's a lot of ice cream. Does he get a stomachache?" asked Max.

"Oh...trust me. He gets more than stomachaches." Musaki added.

He finally finds three buckets of ice cream from the palace cooler and out pops in three flavors; strawberry, chocolate and cookies and cream. The latter part is Max's absolute favorite and as he looks over, Max began smiling very wide-like and wanted to get his paws on the cookies and cream flavored.

"Try not to eat them before I set out the bowls. Last time you did that, you got so sick that Shifu kept you from eating ice cream here for 3 months." Musaki said.

"And that was the worst three months ever." Max added.

After he got the two bowls out, both Musaki and Max immediately set in to eat some ice cream and after the first few bites, Max felt a crazy amount of his taste buds wanting more ice cream. Less than 5 minutes later, in comes Kiba, Ryo, Takami and Hope coming in the kitchen and from the minute Ryo spotted the ice cream, he wanted in.

"Ice cream?!" Ryo said, excitedly.

Musaki and Max turned around and saw them coming in the kitchen and Musaki said, "Hey, guys."

"So you had ice cream and didn't tell us?!" Ryo barked.

"Uh...sorta." Musaki replied.

Takami looks over and he said, "What kind of flavors you guys have?"

"Strawberry, chocolate and cookies and cream." Musaki replied.

Kiba completely heard the word 'chocolate' come out of Musaki's mouth and his tongue started wagging and panting heavily for the crave of chocolate and he said, "Kiba...wants...chocolate...bad."

"Kiba..needs...to...grow...up." Ryo said, mocking his voice.

Musaki chuckled softly at this and he said, "Everyone grab a bowl and don't make yourselves sick."

Almost immediately, Ryo and Kiba sat down on the table, each grabbing a scoop of some flavors and as Takami and Hope sat down, Hope couldn't help but resist the strawberry ice cream that's staring in front of him and he said, "Strawberry..."

Takami looked up at Hope for a second and he said, "You okay, Hope?"

"I like strawberry..." Hope said, almost in a trance.

Soon enough, Hope puts in four scoops of strawberry ice cream and proceeds to eat at it all down and all Takami can do is watch him eat it so fast and Takami puts in four scoops of strawberry and cookies and cream...and four more scoops and eats it down for a second.

Max looks up at Kiba and Ryo goobling down mostly the ice cream and he asked, "You guys like ice cream too?"

"A lot!" Kiba shouted.

"Sometimes, I could never get enough of ice cream." Ryo said, with mouth full.

Takami rolled his eyes at Ryo and he said, "Well...let's hope you don't get yourself an ice cream hangover."

"T.K...I can limit my ice cream consumption when I want to." Ryo pointed out.

10 minutes later...

Ryo, Hope and Kiba gobbled down some pounds of ice cream and Musaki went a little bit ice cream crazy as he brought in more and more ice cream buckets out of the cooler and he indulged himself with mint chip and vanilla and couldn't get enough after having 3 scoops, so he put in 12 scoops to get his ice cream fix.

Takami and Max looked at each other for a second and as they saw all of them consuming so many ice cream, Max said, "I think just 3 scoops is enough for me."

"Yeah, I could never have too much ice cream anyway." Takami replied.

Ryo went his absoulte craziness when he ate 25 scoops of ice cream and Kiba went over the edge after eating a huge amount of 30 scoops of ice cream while Musaki and Hope chowed down only 21 scoops and from the looks of it...

This wasn't gonna end up well for them.

"Think they might get in trouble after eating so much?" asked Max.

"Wouldn't surprise me at all." Takami answered.

5 minutes later...

Musaki, Hope, Ryo and Kiba passed out on the floor after having a supercharged ice cream hangover from eating so much that they actually got stomachaches and they have really pushed it to their limits. Ryo lets out a low moan while Kiba groans in agony while holding his stomach in and he looks up at Ryo and said, "Hey, Ryo..."

"Yeah, Kiba?" asked Ryo, weakly.

"I think we had too much." Kiba said, with a groan.

"I know."

Musaki lets out a loud belch and a groan out of nowhere after eating 23 pounds of ice cream and said, "So...this is what it feels like to be Po's weight size. I think I need to limit the fat jokes a little."

"But at least we didn't even let Po come in." Hope said.

Musaki lets out a few chuckles and then his stomach cramped a little bit and said, "It hurts to laugh."

Musaki turned to the side for a while and he said, "I am so gonna puke right now."

"So do we..." Ryo, Kiba and Hope replied in agreement.

Ryo lets out a heavy pant and he said, "I may never...ever...ever...ever...*burps*...eat another serving for as long as I live."

"Me too, man." Kiba said, groaning.

Hope looks up at Musaki and the others for a second and he asked, "Think we might get in trouble for this?"

All of a sudden, four of the Furious Five walked in the kitchen and saw four passed out kids laying down on the floor, groaning loudly and Viper looks up to the table and sees the answer; a load of ice cream.

"How many buckets did you guys eat?" asked Viper.

Musaki tried to think of an exact number to count with, but his response was, "8...but we had eight too many."

Monkey looks over at most of them and asked, "Overdid it?"

"What do you...*burps*...think?" asked Kiba.

Ryo began panting heavily as some of the ice cream started to rise up from his stomach to his mouth and he looked for a place to puke in and all of a sudden, he found an empty trash can and proceeded to puke there while Kiba and Hope did the same as well and Crane said, "I'll get the mop, just in case."

"I'll get Master Shifu." Viper said.

Musaki groans deeply and he said, "I knew that one was coming."

Suddenly, Musaki feels something coming out and he wanted to find a place to throw up in, but as soon as Tigress came in the room, she noticed Musaki looking very pale and a little sick...but just when she was about to ask...

Musaki relased a powerful vomit all over Tigress, much to everyone's disgust and shock.

Musaki then realized what he did and asked, "You got a little something on your..."

"MUSAAAAAAAAAAAAKIIIIIIIIIIII IIII!" Tigress roared.

Monkey held her to keep her from fighting him and he said, "Tigress...Musaki's already sick. This is no time for a fight fest."

She tried to keep her cool down and Musaki then said, "I'm sorry."

"I'll be taking a bath." Tigress said, as she stormed out of the room with her clothes covered in puke.

Max and Takami came back to the kitchen to find a half mess there and Max asked, "What happened here?"

"You don't wanna...*hiccup*...know." Musaki replied, weakly.

* * *

Hazards, please weign in! IS that funny enough for ya? Stay tuned for more!


	24. Hide and Seek with Skyler

A little moment between Max and Skyler.

* * *

Hide and Seek with Skyler

Later that afternoon, Max was just walking around the barracks looking for Faith in hopes that she'll play hide and seek with him and as he looked through most of the rooms, he couldn't find her anywhere. Just then, Skyler sees Max coming and she asked, "What ya doing, little guy?"

"Have you seen Faith?" asked Max.

"Sorry, I haven't seen her. She must be out training with Hope." Skyler replied.

Skyler could see the young tiger cub's face full of disappointment and she asked, "Don't be sad, little guy. I can keep you company."

"You sure? I don't wanna take up too much of your time." Max responded.

Skyler places her paws on Max's shoulders and told him, "I've got nothing else to do anyways. For you, I got nothing but time."

That seemed to lighten Max up a little bit and he asked, "You know how to play hide and seek?"

Skyler nods her head a little bit and she said, "I haven't played that game since I was like...9 or 10."

"Wanna play it with me?" asked Max.

The yellow fox smiled and replied, "Yeah, of course."

Max became completely excited and said, "Okay, you hide and I'll count."

Max turns to the wall and begins counting and Skyler looks around most of the barracks to look for a couple of places to hide and she then walks to the kitchen and proceeds to hide in one of the cupboards.

After Max counted, he scoured all over the barracks to find Skyler and he saw something moving in one of the rooms and thought that maybe Skyler was there, but when he quickly went in the room...

"Gotcha!"

"Max!"

He accidently walked into Tigress' room and noticed she was hanging upside down and that one distraction caused her to fall down and lose her balance.

"Sorry! I thought you were Skyler." Max quickly said.

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM RIGHT NOW!" Tigress roared.

Max bolted out of the room and shook it off like it's nothing and continued on looking for Skyler and when he came towards the kitchen...

He pounced in all wild tiger like and quietly walked through most parts of the kitchen to look for the yellow fox. He went under the table to find her, but didn't see her anywhere. He gets himself up and tries to find her in one of the cupboards and seconds later...he placed his paws in one cupboard and when he opens...

"Gotcha!"

He found Skyler.

"Aw, Max! You found me!" Skyler exclaimed.

Skyler got out of the kitchen and Max chased after her and both of them ran around parts of the barracks and then headed outside up until Max caught her from behind and tackled her down to the ground. Both of them were laughing and Skyler playfully growled with him and said, "You got me, Maxie!"

Max laughs and said, "Yeah, I did."

"All right...now it's my turn. This time...you hide and I'll seek." Skyler said, laughing.

"No peeking." Max added.

Skyler began counting and Max began running to find places to hide and he quickly runs to the Sacred Peach tree and hid underneath the tree, hoping that Skyler wouldn't find him there. He lets out a giggle and said, "She'll never find me here."

Meanwhile, Skyler was done counting and she went on a search to find Max and she went through every single parts of the palace...from the courtyard to the training hall and no sign of Max anywhere.

"Man, this kid is good." Skyler said.

Soon enough...Skyler dashes towards the Sacred Peach Tree and she then slowly walks around, hoping to find Max there and less than 3 minutes later...a single black and white striped tail was a little exposed and she knew who that belonged to.

She then walked in front of where Max was hiding and said, "I gotcha!"

"Hey...that was cold!" Max replied.

"Now I get to chase you!" Skyler said, playfully.

Max then ran out while Skyler chased him from behind and while they were running, Max realized that having fun with Skyler became a lot more fun and a good way to keep himself going. Just then, Skyler gained on Max very closely and tackled him from behind, both of them laughing with each other.

"That was so much fun!" Max exclaimed.

"Best I've had in a long time!" Skyler agreed.

They both got up and Skyler picked Max up and placed him on her shoulders and said, "Let's get a snack, kid."

"Okay." Max said.

* * *

Wasn't that awesome or what? Weigh in if you must! We've got more coming up!


	25. Takami's Hidden Theme

Thought I would make this a more emotional scene that sticks Takami to the core. So...I hope you like it.

* * *

Takami's Hidden Theme

Musaki went around most of the palace to find Takami and wanted to know if he's okay and he had noticed that Takami had been a little down lately and hopes that he'll open up to what he's going through.

Tigress walks up to Musaki and she asked, "Do you know where Takami could be?"

"No. But don't worry...I'm gonna find him." Musaki stated.

After this, Musaki thought he might've headed over to the Peach tree for a little bit of escape or thinking and he figured that that's where he would be at a time like this or just to have some alone time. But as soon as he went to the Peach tree...he heard someone singing there and wanted to get a little closer and to his surprise...it's Takami.

_I'm tired of waking up in tears_

_Cause I can't put to bed these phobias and fears_

_I'm new to this grief I can't explain_

_But I'm no stranger to the heartache and the pain_

_The fire I began is burning me alive_

_But I know better than to leave and let it die_

_I'm a silhouette_

_Asking every now and then_

_Is it over yet?_

_Will I ever feel again?_

_I'm a silhouette_

_Chasing rainbows on my own_

_But the more I try to move on_

_The more I feel alone_

_So I watch the summer stars to lead me home_

_I'm sick of the past I can't erase_

_A jumble of footprints and hasty steps I can't retrace_

_The mountain of things I still regret_

_Is a vile reminder that I would rather just forget_

_No matter where I go..._

_The fire I began is burning me alive_

_But I know better than to leave and let it die_

_I'm a silhouette_

_Asking every now and then_

_Is it over yet?_

_Will I ever smile again?_

_I'm a silhouette_

_Chasing rainbows on my own_

_But the more I try to move on_

_The more I feel alone_

_So I watch the summer stars to lead me home_

_Cuz I walk alone_

_No matter where I go_

_Cuz I walk alone_

_No matter where I go_

_Cuz I walk alone_

_No matter where I go_

_I'm a silhouette_

_Asking every now and then_

_Is it over yet?_

_Will I ever love again?  
I'm a silhouette_

_Chasing rainbows on my own_

_But the more I try to move on_

_The more I feel alone_

_So I watch the summer stars to lead me home_

_I watch the summer stars to lead me home..._

After he was finished singing, Takami lets out a deep sigh and whispered to himself, "The past still kills me."

"Join the club."

The voice completely startled Takami and he unsheated his claws and said, "Come out whomever you are!"

Suddenly, Musaki came out of the darkness and stood where Takami's standing and he said, "I thought I'd find you here."

Takami then calms himself down a little bit and he said, "Hey, Musaki. Well, you found me."

Musaki then sat down next to him at the Peach tree and he said, "Heard ya singing. What were you feeling?"

Takami turned to Musaki in both shock and disbelief that Musaki actually heard him sing and he asked, "You heard me? I thought I was alone."

"Nah...I usually do the same thing ever since I came here." Musaki added.

Takami sighed heavily and Musaki wanted to see what was going through his head and said, "You know...you can tell me what's bothering you."

"Why should I?" asked Takami.

"Because if you keep holding it...it'll continue to bother you." Musaki replied.

Takami lets out a deep sigh and isn't really willing to let him in on this problem and he said, "It's better that you don't understand."

"Of course I would." Musaki added.

That simple comment tensed up Takami and he asked, "How?! Have you ever been called pyro freak?! A beast?! A monster?! How could you possibly understand?!"

Musaki was one to keep cool under pressure and after that simple outburst Takami made...it made him go back to what his life was at the orphanage and that the past of being bullied completely hit home and that would be the reason that it bothered Takami so much.

"No...but I know what it feels like to be picked on for no reason. Trying going through so many things if you were in my position. Losing my parents, being teased because I was the only panda and made fun of...that wa shard enough for me to take! So don't think you're the only one that went through this!" Musaki said, on the verge of tears.

Takami lets out a soundless gasp about that and immediately regretted shouting at him and he just lowered his head down in shame as the tears began falling down and said, "I'm sorry. I...I didn't mean to blow up at you like that...I just...I...I'm so sorry."

Musaki then hugged Takami tightly, letting Takami cry on Musaki's shoulders and Musaki told him, "It's okay. It's not your fault."

Takami then told him, "It's just that...the memories of that still bothers me. It's things like that will never go away."

"I know what you mean...but sometimes, in times like this, we need support from others who care about us for who we really are and not what everyone else thinks of us. But it gets better." Musaki replied.

"Yeah, I guess. We all need to forgive and forget." Takami added.

"And start healing. Let's head back to the barracks." Musaki said, standing up.

Takami also stood up and then places a paw on Musaki's shoulder and said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, bro." Musaki replied.

* * *

The song was 'Silhouette' from Owl City. I know, I could've chose an alternative rock song...but this was the song choice. Takami and Musaki do have a lot in common when it comes to memories of enduring a lot of bullying. It's like a new form of brotherly relationship. So, stick around for more chapters and Hazards, feel free to weigh in...because I can not only do friendships and comedy, but also sweet moments, drama, angst and everything in particular so I hope it does well.


	26. Embarassing Secrets

We've all had some embarassing secrets about ourselves...so it makes sense that the Hazards, Musaki and Arizona have some embarassing secrets too.

* * *

Embarassing Secrets

One evening in the Jade Palace where everything seemed kinda quiet at the barracks and Musaki, Arizona and the gang were hanging out at Musaki's room for a little while and Musaki started telling everyone about his one embarassing secret that he had endured a long time ago.

"So...I was about to take a bath, right? Well, I got most of my stuff ready and proceeded to clean myself up due to a day full of training. I eventually got myself clean and went to dry myself off. Little did I know that the towel I used made my fur really messy and it was poofed up out of nowhere...but that wasn't even the worst part; Po came in the bathhouse to bathe as well and when I turned around, there he was...standing there naked." Musaki explained.

Most of the gang were laughing with him and never thought Musaki would experience something completely embarassing at that and Skyler asked, "Did he really?"

"Sadly, yes. But Po freaked out when he saw my fur all messy and stuff and I freaked out because he saw me naked. So that was embarassing enough for both of us." Musaki added.

"You never told me that part." Arizona said, holding his laughter.

Musaki then stared at him and he said, "You'd feel the same way if Po was there too."

Arizona did admit that he had a good point at this and replied, "Guess you're right about that one."

Tamaki tried to compose himself from all the laughing and he turned to Arizona and asked, "What's your embarassing moment?"

Arizona lets out a little blush at that and he said, "It's too embarassing to tell."

"But tell us anyway." Takami added.

Arizona sighed at this and said, "All right. Well...there was one morning in particular that I freakin' overslept because I had to babysit Max and Tae Kwan Do until at least 12:30 in the morning. Luckily, their bedtime was about 3 1/2 hours earlier and I went back to the palace 20 minutes later and just fell asleep. Sunrise came in and I realized that I had overslept 2 hours behind and I ran out of my room and just headed straight to the training hall...only to my surprise, everyone was staring at me completely shocked and a little bit disturbed. I looked down and that's when it hit me...I didn't have any clothes on."

Musaki then burst out laughing at that and he said, "I remember that part, actually. Tigress completely fainted after she stared at your...wolf parts."

Arizona groans at that and he said, "But my grey-ish fur was messier so...they didn't really see too much. But that wasn't the end of it...Master Shifu gave me two punishments I had to endure...one is sparring with Tigress for a week after she fainted and another is to do Po's chores."

Ryo winced at this and he said, "Must've been painful, dude."

"The chores...I took it well. But sparring with Tigress...I could not cope with that." Arizona added, with a shudder.

"What about you guys? Do you have any embarassing moments?" asked Musaki.

Most of the Hazards paused for a second and they did have some moments that wish they would forget and Takami went ahead first and he said, "Okay...back when I was like 10, I had eaten lunch with Ryo and Skyler at the orphanage and I felt completely sick to my stomach that most of what I had eaten had almost came back up on me. I figured something was wrong with me and before I could even excuse myself...I threw up in front of everyone and I got made fun of."

Skyler then remembers what had happened and said, "Oh yeah...I remember that. You never did answer my question if you were okay."

"Whoa...what had happened before you puked?" asked Kiba.

Takami turned to Kiba for a second and said, "I think it's better that you don't know."

Ryo clears his throat and said, "Well...I've had many embarassing moments in my life and there was one in particular that I remember very clearly...one that I wished would go away. It was one night that I was asleep back at the orphanage and I had this crazy dream I had where this huge dragon was chasing me, trying to burn me and when I woke up...I felt something wet on my bed. And the minute I pulled my covers, I completely peed myself...out of my butt."

Kiba began laughing hysterically at that and rolled around on the ground after hearing what Ryo had said and it made Ryo a little irritated to hear this from Kiba. Musaki and Arizona stared at him in a trance-like state and both asked, "You did?"

"Yes. And I had no idea I could do that." Ryo stated.

"I told you not to drink any water before bed." Skyler said, in a stern voice.

"I was 11, Sky. I didn't know any better." Ryo defended.

Skyler scoffs at this and she said, "Well...there was one embarassing moment that had the name 'Mercer' written all over it."

Skyler glared at Ryo after making that statement where this one particular moment may had something to do with Ryo and she said, "We were playing hide and seek when we were kids, right? I was gonna look for Ryo...as I always do and when I found him, he was hanging around the tree branch to impress me and the second the branch fell, Ryo also fell down onto me and his mouth almost went to my lips and all of the other kids said that we were kissing. I have never felt so embarassed in my life."

"Aw, come on! I thought you'd gotten over it!" Ryo shouted.

"I had nightmares of that moment because of you!" Skyler snapped.

Ryo didn't rally say anything about it and then he asked, "Was I good kisser even then?"

Skyler slapped Ryo in the face after that and she said, "You're such a sick dog!"

Arizona clears his throat for a second and he said, "All right, guys. Let's try to calm ourselves down. The last thing I would want to see is you two fighting over something that had happened years ago."

Tamaki nods his head in agreement and he said, "Arizona's right. This one embarassing moment came to me in particular just a few weeks ago and...I usually pull tricks on Kalia for fun, right? One day, she told me that she was gonna get me back...and she put something on one of my noodles and as I ate it...I felt something bubbling in my stomach and once it got to me, I had to go to the bathroom to take a 45 minute dump."

Takami dropped his jaw in shock and Kiba snickered to keep his laughter to himself and Ryo only told him, "You what?"

"Kalia got me really good...yet it caused most of the house to smell my crap. We had to open every window and door for almost an hour and my mom did find out and she was so grounded." Tamaki added.

"Bet that was embarassing." Musaki added.

"I was humiliated by my own sister." Tamaki said.

Layla lets out a big sigh and she said, "Well, my one embarassing moment is when me and Takami were out swimming alone together and we had some fun...until I came to the dressing room and accidently peeked at Takami's butt."

Takami froze for a second and turned to Layla and asked, "Seriously?"

"I was embarassed for you." Layla said, nervously.

"And how long ago?" asked Takami.

"Two months ago." Layla replied.

Takami lets out a blush and he told Layla, "And you're telling me this now?"

"I'm so sorry, Takami. I guess I should've known better." Layla replied.

Takami lets out a big sigh and just brushed it off for a second and told her, "It's fine. It's no big deal now."

Ryo snickered about that particular moment until Takami lets out an annoyed growled at Ryo and after that, it became Faith's turn to reveal something deeply embarassing.

"The one moment I had was when I received a dare from one of my friends when I was a cub to jump off the low dive in a swimming pool just to impress my friends and as I was going on the high dive, I suddenly looked down and realized how high I had really gotten and that was when I thought to myself...'Why am I doing this?'...so I didn't even move and I got called 'fraidy cheetah' as soon as I got down."

Hope looks over at Faith and he gave her a hug for support and told her, "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Thanks, Hope." Faith said.

"Oh, yeah...I think I might've remembered that moment. I had to defend you from the teasing and brought you out of there." Kiba stated.

Faith looked to Kiba and she said, "And I thank you for that, Kiba."

Hope then clears his throat and said, "If you wanna hear embarassing...my dad told me a joke while I was eating some noodles and I guess it really made me laugh so hard. But what happened next...would really change. I was laughing so hard that two strings of noodles came out of my nose."

"Ewww!" everyone exclaimed.

"That's disgusting." Skyler added.

Hope rolled his eyes and said, "The worst part...the girl I tried to impress was completely freaked out and just left the shop. Wallowed on my self-pity for 5 days after that."

Faith then looks over at Hope and asked, "Who's the girl?"

"This girl I had a crush on when I was like nine. I guess she thought I was disgusting at that time." Hope replied.

Faith chuckled at that and she said, "But...now you've got me...so it was her loss. And I'll always laugh when you make a few jokes. You're still the sweetest person I've even known."

"Aw, thanks." Hope said, blushing.

Kiba was next to tell this story and he said, "Okay, this one may be a little embarassing to tell you...I was doing some kung-fu moves and while I was practicing, I heard something rip from behind and that's when I discovered that I split my pants...but it was split in the front. I tried my best not to do another move and next thing I knew...my pants became fully ripped. So I made my way to my room, trying not to be seen as hard as I could...and then when I finally made it to the barracks...Master Shifu saw me on my underwear and I had to get to my room as quickly as I could before Shifu screamed at me."

Ryo then laughed hysterically at this one this time and he said, "Oh, man...I wished I would've seen that!"

"Ryo!" Faith growled.

"Sorry...but it was so funny." Ryo said.

Kiba lets out a deep sigh and he said, "Guess I deserved it, Ryo."

Finally, Kaizer was the last one to tell his embarassing secret and the white tiger was completely reluctant to spill it, but after some coaxing from Hope, he then said..."All right...I was already finished taking a bath one night and I dried myself off, right? I would've covered myself up or at least got dressed if a certain bear hadn't have fallen into the bathroom because he didn't see me standing there."

Kaizer glared at Hope with a dangerous growl and he said, "I was freakin' naked!"

"I didn't even know you were there, Kai! Plus, I had no idea you could have your...tiger parts backwards." Hope added.

"Run...now." Kaizer growls.

Hope knew the cue as he burst out running out of the room and Kaizer chases him around the hallways of the barracks while the others sat there, surprised.

"You guys wanna see what happens next?" asked Musaki.

"You read my mind." Takami added.

Everyone quickly got out of the room to see the chase take place and while Kaizer chases Hope, they were unaware that there was a mini-audience sitting there, watching the entire chase show.

* * *

Hilarious, I know. Hazards, please weigh in and stick around for more! Can you believe we're getting closer to Halloween?!


	27. Making Moments Count

Now we go from the humor to the sweet moments.

* * *

Making Moments Count

Another night comes around and Musaki, Arizona and half of the Hazards came around to join in this particular question that they would rather answer a little bit easier.

Musaki then turns to everyone and he said, "I wanna ask you guys this question; if you were told you had hours, days, weeks, months or years left to live, how would you react to it...or what would you do to make them count?"

Everyone pondered in on this question and they never thought about things like that before and Takami asked Musaki, "What do you think?"

Musaki took a deep sigh at this and he responded, "If I were told I had about...10 years to live, I would completely make them count a lot; like be a kung-fu master and accomplish whatever I set out to accomplish, spend more time with my relatives, my friends, tell them I love them everyday, thank the Jade Palace masters for giving me everything I needed and tell Summer how much I love her and that she'll always have me in her heart."

The response made most of the Hazards become overwhelemed with so much emotion and realize that life is a lot more precious than they think. Arizona responded, "That's really huge."

"Yeah...but I'm willing to make it last before I die." Musaki answered back.

Arizona sighed heavily and he thought up of a few things and he said, "I got one...if I was told I was gonna die in...5 years, I would make it count. Spend more time with you guys, continue learning a little bit about myself, do awesome things that I never really had time to do, tell Sierra I love her, spend a lot of time with my tiger brother and appreciate everything I have. And to also forgive the people that made my life miserable."

Takami was speechless, but a little bit inspired by whatever Arizona had said and he said, "Wow...I never really thought of death that way."

"Most people try to escape death, but it always happens. We may not know why, but it's all a part of life." Musaki said.

Takami agreed with that and he said, "If I was told I had like 4 months to live, I would most likely make them count; I would tell Layla how much I love her, thank my friends for being there for me, forgive the ones that had hurt me in the past and just enjoy life."

That seemed to tear up Ryo a lot and he said, "That's beautiful, T.K."

Ryo got choked up over this and he found the strength to keep going and said, "Um...if I were to have like 8 months left of my life left...I'd tell Skyler my feelings for her, spend time with my brothers like it's my last, hope to have this darkness power go away and just continue to tell the people I care about that I love them everyday."

It really got to Skyler a lot and she said, "If someone told me I had like...3 weeks left, I'd really like to tell Ryo how much I love him and forgive him for every stupid thing he did, tell my friends how much I appreciate them and just live like it's my last."

Faith had a chance to go for it and she said, "Where do I start? If someone said I had one year of life to live, I'd make it count; tell Hope how much I love him, thank my friends for being there, go back to my family and spend a lot more time with them and just...make them count."

Hope smiled at this and he responded, "It's a little crazy for me...but if I had 4 years to live, I would just thank my dad for everything and tell him that I'll always be here for him, tell Faith that I love her so much and that I appreciate every moment we had together, appreciate the time I had being Phoenix Warrior and give the title to Takami. And for Kaizer...he's the best friend I ever had and that our friendship will never die."

It kinda got to Kaizer and Takami the most, but mostly Kaizer because he couldn't imagine what life would be like if Hope dies in the future...but he would deeply miss him. Takami then told Hope, "I don't want the title anymore. I thought I wanted it...but you're the real Phoenix Warrior. I couldn't accept it."

"But I want you to." Hope added.

Takami nods in understanding for that and he said, "Thanks, Hope."

Kaizer began to have his turn at it and he said, "It's really hard to say this...but I would deeply miss everyone if I was told I had one day left to live. I would tell Felicity my feelings for me, thank Faith and Hope for being such good friends, forgive anyone who made my life miserable. I'm not sure how much time would I have before I make those amends, but I hope to make them count."

"You will." Musaki said.

Kiba was the last one and he became really teary-eyed at everything he had heard and he said, "If I was given...like 2 months to live, I would do whatever I can to make Alphas and Omegas come together instead of going against each other, tell my friends how much I appreciate having them around me and to tell Ryo...that he's like the big brother I never had."

That comment seemed to tug Ryo in the heart and he blinked at it and said, "Am I really?"

"Yeah, you're great." Kiba replied.

"Thanks...Kiba." Ryo said, then giving him a fist bump.

Arizona clears his throat and said, "We're all not sure what the future holds for us, but let's hope we make each and every single day the best and live like there's no tomorrow. And appreciate all the things we have because you never know until it's gone."

"Arizona's right. All we can do...is live for now." Musaki agreed.

All nodded in agreement with that and Kiba's stomach began growling and said, "I'm starving. Can we eat now?"

Everyone got up as they headed towards the kitchen for a little snack...together.

* * *

Hazards, feel free to weigh in...and maybe get some tissues too. Stay tuned for more!


	28. Musaki vs Takami

A little sparring match between Musaki and Takami.

* * *

Musaki vs. Takami

At the training hall

Musaki and Takami faced each other to start their sparring sessions and Takami was eager to take down Musaki in a quick second, but Musaki wasn't really fazed or intimidated by Takami's glare because he was ready for this and Takami asked, "Am I making you nervous?"

"What's that?" asked Musaki.

Takami puts his game face on and immediately charged at him by punching and shoving Musaki down, but Musaki wasn't going down as he began dodging every single move he made and when a frustrated Takami couldn't believe how fast he was, he wanted to bring him down hard, so he leaped forward but Musaki twisted his body around and kicks Takami in the butt.

Takami falls down, rubbing his sore buttocks but got back on his feet, growling at Musaki and said, "How did you even...?"

"Practiced." Musaki replied, in a sing-song voice.

Musaki definitely wasted no time as he brought out his stance and Takami jumped through the air and kicked Musaki in the back and attacked head-on and proceeded to kick him in the jaw, but Musaki immediately dodges the move and instead, used his fist to punch him in the jaw instead.

He then ran underneath Takami's legs and got behind him and he said, "Your butt's gonna be my scratching post!"

Takami growls at him fiercely and he said, "You're gonna regret saying those words. Now...less talking, more fighting!"

Takami quickly runs towards Musaki, leaping towards him and grabbed his neck and Musaki struggled to get him off of him, but Musaki had other ideas. He flipped and fell down backwards to set Takami free and that made him a little bit irritated and he was more determined to bring him down, but he could see that Musaki is also determined to get the job done.

He then comes up to kick him in the face, but a single force shield prevented him from doing that and got bounced back to a wall and as he fell, he was shocked to see that he actually did it. Musaki was also surprised that he did it as well and whispered, "How did I do that?"

'This guy is completely well-skilled.' Takami thought.

Takami grunts in efort to get himself up and he still had some fight left in him to take down Musaki and he said, "I'm still gonna take you on."

"We'll do this all night if we have to." Musaki added.

Within a few seconds, both of them sparred with each other like it's the last fight of their lives with more jabs, punches, kicks, spins, twirls and everything else they could do and Takami was definitely willing to finish Musaki off at all costs...but Musaki has got something else planned for Takami.

As Takami planned to punch him in the face, Musaki grabbed Takami's paw and picked him up, spun him around and thrashed him down to the ground and bodyslammed him.

Then, Musaki went in and stepped on his stomach, stopping him from moving and Takami seems to realize that Musaki has been very well-skilled like no other kung-fu master...even Master Tigress only being second to none.

Takami then looks up at Musaki and said, "You win."

Musaki couldn't believe what he was hearing and asked, "What was that?"

"I surrender. You've got the bigger moves." Takami replied.

Musaki chuckled softly at that and he said, "Wow...thanks, dude. You're pretty good too."

Takami nodded in agreement and he said, "Now could you get off me? You're almost crushing my ribs."

Musaki then lifted his leg, letting Takami get up and said, "Sorry about that. That's sorta my Xing-Fu style."

Takami takes a breath and he said, "I don't think I have ever gotten my butt kicked by someone like you. Guess this is the first time I lost to a panda."

"Well, can't win them all, ya know?" asked Musaki.

Takami dusted himself off and nodded in agreement and said, "Wanna see what Po's making?"

"I'm game." Musaki replied.

* * *

Sorry if I made it short. Hope ya like it! Takami, feel free to weigh in if you must...or bring the Hazards along too. Stay tuned for more coming your way!


	29. The Halloween Party

Since Halloween is here, it makes perfect sense to have Musaki, Max, Arizona and the Hazards to celebrate Halloween the best way they know how...so hope ya like!

* * *

The Halloween Party

Halloween night at the Valley of Peace

The Valley of Peace got all prepped up for Halloween where kids dress up in scary costumes, go out trick or treating and every single tradition that people in Halloween do and at the Jade Palace...it's definitely no different.

The masters turned the palace into a Halloween theme to go with the entire day and for the Dragon Warrior, he simply couldn't resist scaring the crap out of the masters...much to most of their amusement and annoyance.

"Do you have to do that?" asked Mantis.

"Yeah, it's Halloween night. It's the time to be scary and cool." Po answered.

Monkey agreed with that response and said, "And the best part...the candy."

"Ohh...yeah. The candy's always the best." Po added.

Just then, Musaki, Arizona and Max went inside the palace doors and sees that the entire palace is decked out in Halloween decorations and Musaki said, "Whoa...you guys must've got something planned this year."

"Master Shifu wanted to make this year to be the most amazing for this annual halloween fest." Viper replied.

"Every year, most of the kids come and hang with one of the members of the Five or with the Dragon Warrior to play games, tell scary stories or go out trick or treating with one of us." Crane answered.

"Sounds like fun." Max said.

Mantis hopped on Arizona's shoulder and he asked, "What have you got planned for tonight?"

"Well, me and Max are going trick or treating tonight to scope for candy in the village." Arizona replied.

Max's excitement fueled up higher than ever and he said, "Yeah, I heard that they're gonna get much more candy in one of those houses and they're gonna give out four bowls of candy."

Arizona chuckled at that and said, "I know you're excited for it."

"Am I ever!" Max replied.

Tigress walked in on this and she asked, "Arizona, aren't you a little too old for trick or treating?"

Arizona glared at her for that statement, mistaking him for being one of the trick or treaters and said, "It's gonna be me, Musaki, Cody and Samurai taking all the kids out trick or treating because we're above 12 years old...so we're supervising them. That's the only reason older kids and parents can go out trick or treating."

After she had her answer, she felt a little bit clueless that she had to ask him that question and just said nothing and walked out with an 'I'm so stupid to ask him that question' look and Max said, "You should enjoy Halloween."

"I don't have time for any of it. I'd rather spend it training." Tigress stated.

"Master Shifu says no training for halloween night." Po reminded her.

"Well, I'm just not interested in Halloween, okay?"

Max lets out a deep sigh and he said, "Well, I'll bring you back some candy."

Soon enough, Arizona and Musaki walked towards the hallways of the barracks and they saw most of the Hazards dressing up in halloween costumes and Arizona said, "Looking good, you guys."

Tamaki was dressed as a vampire, Takami was dressed as a king, Layla was dressed as a queen, Skyler was dressed as a princess, Ryo dressed up as a court jester, Kiba was dressed as a mummy, Hope was dressed as a samurai warrior, Faith was dressed as a geisha girl, Kaizer was dressed as a goth warrior, Chronos dressed as a werewolf and Zack as a prison guard and Takami said, "Thanks. You guys got your costumes for the halloween party?"

"Yeah, we're about to go change in them first for trick or treating and then for the halloween party." Musaki replied.

Takami nods his head and said, "Cool. We're waiting for Kaila, Kovu and Borko to change in their costumes so we can get going."

Arizona looks over at Max and he said, "Go show them your costume."

"All righty." Max said, as he went in one of the barracks, leaving Musaki and Arizona time to change to their costumes.

Almost 10 minutes later...Musaki came out dressed as a ninja warrior and Arizona as a zombie, in which scared the crap out of Ryo and Arizona said, "What do you guys think?"

"You look awesome." Zack replied.

Ryo looks over at Arizona and he asked, "You wanna swap costumes?"

Arizona rolled his eyes and he said, "Nah, I'm good. Besides, I like being a zombie."

Ryo pouted for a second and Skyler told him, "Lighten up, court jester."

Just then, Kovu, Borko and Kaila came out with their costumes; Kovu as a pirate, Borko as a prince and Kaila as a fairy and Tamaki looks over at Kaila's outfit and said, "Hey, can you grant me a wish?"

Kaila glared at Tamaki as he started laughing and she said, "Very funny, Tamaki."

"Don't let him get to you, Kaila. You look great." Takami stated.

That made her happy and she said, "At least someone doesn't make fun of this outfit."

And then, Max came out in a different costume; as a clown and he asked, "Do you like it?"

Arizona chuckled at this and he said, "You look pretty awesome."

"Thanks, big brother."

The other hazards completely raved Max's clown costume and even some of the younger ones took an interest and Takami said, "What kind of clown is it?"

Max then took out a creepy mask and placed it over his head and sees that it's a scary clown costume and most of the gang became surprised by this and Arizona said, "A scary clown? Very clever."

"Now...let's go get some candy!" Max shouted.

Everyone else agreed as they headed out of the barracks and as they made their way into the Hall of Heroes, the masters look over and saw everyone's costumes that they had on and Master Shifu took a look at all of them and he said, "You all look excellent in those costumes."

"Thanks, Master Shifu." Tamaki said.

Monkey then took notice on Max's costume and he said, "Uh-oh. There's a scary clown in this house."

Monkey then tickled Max and he started laughing and after that, Monkey said, "I'm sure you'll get some candy with that costume."

"I hope so too." Max added.

Tigress walked in and she saw everyone wearing some costumes and noticed Max's scary clown costume and she asked, "A clown? Really?"

"Yes. Everyone gets to be a clown for halloween." Max added.

Po clears his throat at that and he told Max, "She doesn't like clowns...which I really don't get."

Max smiled at this and he said, "I'm the best scary-looking clown in the entire world."

"Yes, you are." Viper said, smiling.

Max then clears his throat and he said, "Logan taught me a song on trick or treating. You guys wanna hear it?"

Mantis hopped on his shoulder and he replied, "Take it away, Maxie-boy! This is gonna be good!"

Max then started singing...

_Trick or treat, smell my feet_

_Give me something good to eat_

_If you don't I don't care_

_I'll pull down your underwear_

The reaction from masters were shocked and in silence because of what Max has sung and Arizona didn't really know what to say about it and he said, "Well..at least it rhymes."

"Should I use it?" asked Max.

Viper looks over to Max and she explains this to Max in the nicest way possible and she said, "I don't think you can use that when you go out trick-or-treating, sweetie."

"Why not?"

"Well...what's funny to you might not be funny to anyone else." Viper then added.

Shifu stroked his beard and told Max, "I don't really think it would be appropriate to say things like that."

Kiba protested at this and he said, "I kinda liked it. He should at least give out an 'A' for effort, at least."

Arizona got to his level and he said, "I think what they're trying to say is...I don't think it's a good idea to use that. Just stick to saying 'trick-or-treat', okay?"

Max then understood what Arizona was saying and he replied, "Okay."

"Attaboy." Arizona said, with a smile.

Musaki clears his throat and said, "Hey, guys...we should get going. The sun's about to set and the candy's gonna be giving away any minute."

"Have fun, you guys." Viper said.

* * *

Around the village

All of them went around the Valley and when they reached Mako's place, Cody and Samurai was standing there with their costumes waiting for them to show up and Cody said, "What up, buds?"

"Not much. Just looking forward to a little trick or treating." Musaki replied.

Cody and Samurai gave Arizona a high-five and a fist bump as they saw him come in and Arizona said, "Happy birthday, Cody."

"Thanks, man! Can you believe I'm 23?" Cody said, happily.

Samurai rolled his eyes and said, "You still look like a teenager to me."

"Funny, Sammy. Let's head out for some candy and then onto the halloween party!" Cody exclaimed.

The entire gang went around the entire Valley of Peace scoping for some candy in every single house for the kids for an entire hour and most of them were pretty much having a lot of fun and after that, they dropped off the younger kids to the Valley of Peace to enjoy the little halloween shindig that they're putting on while the others made their way to the Halloween party a few miles outside of the Valley of Peace.

Soon enough, they had made it to the big temple where there was a whole lot of halloween decorations and a lot of people in their teens or young adult age gap dressed up in random costumes, just having a lot of fun.

Kiba could not believe his eyes when he sees something like this and said, "This is so awesome."

"I don't think I've ever been in a halloween party like this before." Tamaki added.

Cody chuckled softly and he said to Tamaki, "Well, wait until you see the fun parts."

Tamaki's prediction was about to come true as they experience a lot of things; Takami, Tamaki, Arizona and Kiba participated in the egg toss challenge, Layla, Faith and Skyler went on with the who's mask is scarier challenge, Musaki, Ryo, Chronos and Zack took hold on the bobbing for apples game where Musaki and Chronos got the most apples much to Ryo and Zack's disbelief while Hope and Kaizer took hold in the pumpkin carving contest...to which Kaizer used his sword to carve the biggest pumpkin with a face that looks like his own...only much scarier.

When they got together, the host of the party called out Musaki, Arizona, Takami, Tamaki, Kaizer, Ryo, Kiba, Faith and Zack to the stage along with several other people with random costumes to see who will win the costume contest.

Skyler looks up to Cody and she asked, "What's this all about?"

"Well...every halloween, they always pick out who's got the best costume appearance and the winner gets a whole load of bragging rights and adoration by everyone in the party...and the winner gets to have a slow dance. Both male winners and female winners." Cody replied.

"You seem to know a lot about those parties." Skyler stated.

After several minutes, it all came down to the final five males and final five females for the best costume apeparance and the announcer went onboard with the results.

"For the guys...in fifth place; Tamaki Skyfang!"

Tamaki came to the front of the stage as many people cheered for the vampire costume...which seemed to attract some girls, though Tamaki didn't want to come out as a show-off.

"In fourth place...Ryo Shadow Mercer!"

Ryo came onto the stage and with his court jester costume, he seemed to get a little bit used to the costume as he shows it off to the audience to their delight and Skyler's annoyance.

"In third place...Li-Xiao Arizona!"

Arizona definitely brought out the best when he showed off his zombie costume and did his best zombie impression to cheer the audience and takes a bow.

"Our runner-up...Xing-Fu Musaki Ko-Kanji Bushido-Akio Meng Cheng Xi-Wang!"

Musaki comes onto the stage, showing off his ninja costume, twirling his nunchauks around and doing his best ninja pose and completely owned the stage, making everyone cheer for him.

"And in first place...one costume outdid the most. Kaizer Beelzabub!"

That seemed to place Kaizer in an unexpected reaction to it, but as he stepped onto the stage, all of the crowd cheered for Kaizer as he noticed that people were liking his goth costume and he reluctantly got used to it, which turned a couple of girls on.

He went with the others who have been called on and he whispered to Musaki, "Is this always like this?"

"Pretty much." Musaki replied.

Minutes later, they announced the winners of best costume appearance for the females and the first place winner was Faith and that completely meant...that Kaizer and Faith were gonna dance together.

Kaizer was nervous that this was gonna happen and he whispered to Faith, "I don't know how to dance."

When they got in the middle of the dance floor, Faith placed his paws on her waist while she placed her arms around his shoulder and whispered, "Trust me on this."

Faith danced with Kaizer for a second in what seems to be like an awkward moment between both of them, but soon enough...Kaizer slowly got into it as he leads a little bit and when he looked at Faith, he imagines that it's Felicity dancing with him...which sorta gave him a little bit of motivation.

"You're starting to get into it, Kaizer." Faith said.

"Thanks...I guess." Kaizer replied.

Faith chuckled softly and said, "I can tell you're imagining Felicity was here."

Kaizer blushed at the thought, even though he's not one to admit that he blushed before and he said, "I don't know what you mean."

"I won't tell anyone."

After the dance, everyone brought in some cake as they sang happy birthday to Cody...in which made Cody feel a lot special and he blew out this 2 foot ton cake as everyone cheered and enjoyed themselves.

"So...how does it feel to be 23?" asked Musaki.

"Freaking awesome! Maybe now I might be able to get a lot of respect at home." Cody added.

Samurai then told him, "Don't get it over your head. You still have us."

Just then, as everyone finished eating some cake, they place a little bit of dance music/party rock song and everyone knows it's time to hit the dance floor. Musaki, Arizona and all of the others danced along to the song and began to do some serious party rocking.

The lights began strobing with random colors while the gang was dancing along and some halloween shadows shone through the temple like never before. Most of the hazards showed off a few moves and so did Musaki, Arizona, Samurai and Cody as they danced along too.

After everything was over, all of them went around each other for an entire picture shot and every artist drew some pictures on Musaki and the gang indicating that it's one halloween they'll never forget.

* * *

I thought about 'Party Rock Anthem' when I did the ending dancing scene. How was that? Weigh in, Hazards! And Happy Halloween! (sinister laugh)


	30. Hanging with Max

Kovu and Borko spend a little day in Max's place.

* * *

Hanging with Max

One single morning at the Valley of Peace and at the village, Kovu and Borko made their way to Mako's house for a while and when Kovu knocked on the door, Borko seemed a little nervous about meeting all of Max's other siblings and Kovu noticed this coming out of Borko.

Just then, Mako answers the door and he was surprised to see Kovu and Borko and he said, "Hello there."

"Hey, you're Mako, right?" asked Kovu.

"Yeah...and you must be Kovu, right?" asked Mako.

Kovu nodded his head at that answer and he said, "This is Borko, my stepbrother."

Borko was a little nervous to meed Mako and he timidly said, "Hi..."

Mako could sense Borko's anxiety and he said, "Don't be nervous, little one."

Kovu then said to Mako, "Borko's always like this. He's pretty scared when he meets new people and usually hides behind either me or Takami."

Mako smiled at Kovu and he said, "Well, I can assure you that there's nothing to be afraid of."

Kovu clears his throat and said, "We came over to see Max."

"Max has told me about you guys before. Come on in." Mako replied.

Kovu and Borko then walked inside the house and they had no idea how big it looked and looked very amazed by the size. Kovu said, "It looks so big."

Mako chuckled at this and said, "When you live in a house full of 30-something kids, you need bigger room."

Suddenly, Tae Kwon Do, Logan and Crash were just running around the house, much to the surprise of Kovu and Borko and Mako immediately stopped them right from the start and told them, "How many times do I have to tell you guys no running around the house? Need I remind you that you almost ran over Max's tail?"

"Well, he would've gotten out of the way." Logan argued.

"Yeah, if you hadn't had stomped on it." Crash stated.

"Watch it, Crash." Logan added.

Mako clears his throat and he said, "We have guests here..."

Tae Kwon, Crash and Logan look over and sees Kovu and Borko standing there and they said, "Hey."

"Hello. I'm Kovu and this is my stepbrother Borko." Kovu said.

Borko seemed a little afraid to meet them and slowly hid behind Kovu and most of them seemed to be a little bit confused by this. Kovu turns to Mako and said, "Like I said...Borko's afraid of meeting new people...but he gets used to you later on."

"I see." Mako replied.

"I'll take you guys to Max." Crash said, motioning them to come over.

Minutes later, they headed to Max's room where Max is seen playing with his cape, being like a superhero and Crash knocks on the door and said, "Hey, Max...got some visitors."

"Hey, Max." Kovu said.

Max turns around and sees Kovu and Borko coming in his room and he said, "Hey, guys."

"We got bored one day and we thought that maybe we should like hang around with you for a while." Kovu said.

"Cool." Max added.

Borko noticed Max's black and white cape and he asked, "Where'd you get that cape?"

"My dad gave it to me for my birthday. I like to pretend that I'm like a hero or save China from danger." Max said.

Kovu chuckled at that and he said, "We brought in something for the occasion."

Both Kovu and Borko brought in some masks and capes and Max completely knew that it's time to play heroes vs. villains. Soon enough, they went outside and began playing, pretending that it's Max against the two masked avengers.

"You'll never catch us!" Kovu said, in an evil voice.

"Yeah, there is nothing you can do to stop us!" Borko added.

Max flipped his cape around and he said, "Not if I can stop you, you evil guys!"

Max then runs around to chase both Kovu and Borko, but he quickly gains on them and pounces in front of them and said, "Now...there is no escape!"

"And what precisely are you going to do?" asked Kovu.

Max chuckled softly and he said, "I'm gonna tickle you guys until you surrender."

"Never!" they exclaimed.

"You leave me no choice." Max added, then pounced on both boys and tickled them until they started laughing.

"Okay...we surrender! We will never ever destroy China again." Kovu said, still laughing.

"You win!" Borko said, laughing.

Max then gets off of them and said, "Another villain plot foiled thanks to...Master Maximus!"

Kovu and Borko got themselves up and Kovu said, "That was fun."

Just then, in comes Arizona walking through the house and the three cubs look over and Borko whispered, "Think we can sneak on him?"

"Just watch this." Max whispered.

Max quietly sneaks up towards Arizona and as soon as he enters the front door, he quickly jumps up on his back, quickly surprising him and then hops above his chest and he said, "Hey."

Arizona chuckled softly and said, "Hey, Max."

"Did I scare ya?" asked Max.

"Surprised me."

Kovu and Borko then went ahead and tackled Arizona too and all three cubs were laughing and Arizona lets out a playful growl and said, "You guys better run. The wolf's gonna catch ya!"

All three ran around the house with Arizona chasing them down and soon enough, all three were caught by Arizona and he lets out a playful roar and said, "Now I have you!"

"Please do not get us!" Max said, while laughing.

"We're too young to get eaten!" Borko added.

Arizona went towards them and said, "I'm not gonna eat you. In fact, I might tickle you!"

Arizona tickled all three of them and they all started laughing with each other and the younger ones tickled Arizona back and Mako heard them laughing and he smiled at that and he said, "Hey, guys...who wants lunch?"

"We do!" they all replied.

Arizona chuckled softly and said, "Come on, guys! Last one there's a rotten egg!"

They ran after him as soon as they all headed inside the village to get some lunch after they had oodles of fun.

* * *

Now was that fun or was that fun? Gots more coming up!


	31. Arizona vs The Mercer Brothers

Let's see Arizona spar with Ryo's brothers. Won't that be awesome?

* * *

Arizona vs. the Mercer Brothers

Chronos and Zack were hanging around the Training Hall for a little while and they just started talking and stuff and then, they see Arizona coming by to do some training on his own and Zack said, "Sup, Zona?"

"Hey, guys. Just gonna do a little bit of training. Not too much though because I've gone through 5 amounts of training sessions with Tigress, Po and your brother." Arizona replied.

"How was it?" asked Chronos.

Arizona groans at this and he replied, "Freaking brutal."

Chronos chuckled at this and he asked, "How did Ryo do?"

Arizona looked at Chronos for a second and replied, "What do you think?"

That look completely meant that Ryo put him to work very fierce-like and Chronos immediately got the message and suddenly, Zack stopped Arizona for a second and asked, "How good are you skills?"

Arizona turns to Zack for a second and said, "They're pretty good. It's not all professional and stuff, but it's pretty good."

Zack chuckled at that and he said, "What if me and Chronos take you on?"

That seemed to catch Arizona's attention quickly and took Chronos by surprise and asked, "You're asking for a spar?"

Zack nods his head in response and Arizona replied, "All righty then. Let's do this."

Zack went in first to take down Arizona and he looked up at the grey wolf with a smirk on his face and he leaped towards Arizona and landed a lot of punches and Arizona dodged every single one of them and punched Zack in the face very quickly and wrestled him down to the ground.

Zack went in and did some telekinetic powers where he brought in a wooden stick, began running and he used the stick to go above the air and kick Arizona in the shin, but Arizona ducked down before it even happened and Arizona kicks Zack in the jaw hard.

As Zack got himself up, he was surprised that Arizona was like a seasoned fighter and he asked, "How long have you lived here?"

"Since I was 17." Arizona replied.

"And you're...?"

"18."

Zack chuckled and said, "Same age as Chronos...only much older."

Arizona smirked at that and said, "You oughta know."

Zack began sparring him, landing some major kicks, punches and throws at Arizona and soon enough, Arizona fought back with much pizzazz as he kept himself steady and did a backflip and a head-spin technique which results in kicking Zack quickly in the face multiple times, got back up on his feet and tackles him down with his body, slamming him down.

Zack gets himself off of him and punches Arizona straight to the nose and did a massive backflip, but Arizona dodged pretty quickly and gave him a head-butt and threw him straight to the wall.

Both wolves were panting heavily as they looked at each other and Chronos was well amazed at how Arizona held his own and congratulated him for keeping it up.

Zack stared at him and said, "Dude, what about your brother?"

"You did pretty good too." Chronos added.

Seconds later, it was Arizona against Chronos and as the two looked at each other, Chronos began to put in a much more serious game face and he went in and took down Arizona, but Arizona got out of his way and kicked him in the back and on the hind legs.

Chronos got himself up and sparred with Arizona and kicked him in the stomach and on the face, but Arizona wasn't fazed with whatever Chronos did and he went ahead flipped him to the floor as hard as he could.

Arizona quickly ran to him, leaped up in the air and got behind him with a simple growl and flipped him three times. Chronos had other ideas though as he grabbed Arizona by the ankle and flipped him to the ground and bodyslammed him.

Arizona kicks Chronos in the stomach and the two continue to spar with each other, each punching and dodging every single move they could make and Chronos started to run and do a backflip to kick Arizona, but the grey wolf slid underneath him and got behind, causing Chronos to run into a wall.

Arizona lets out a slight chuckle and a smirk and continues to form his basic stance and Chronos turns around and growls at Arizona and both of them charged at each other, continuing to spar with each other as hard as they can and the final blow is where Arizona went underneath Chronos' legs and kicks him in the tail, making Chronos howl out loud.

They stopped each other, take a look at each other and realize that both skills are much more skilled and trained as possible. Zack cheered for both of them as he pumped up his fist up, much to both wolves' amusement and both of them shook hands.

"I gotta say...you're amazing." Chronos said.

"So are you. You know, we oughta hang out sometime." Arizona added.

Chronos nodded his head and agreed with that and said, "Come by our weapons store again. We'll do something together."

"Can I come with?" asked Zack.

Chronos lets out a slight chuckle and replied, "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Looks like Arizona's best buds with Chronos and Zack. Stay tuned for more!


	32. Layla and Max

I thought it would be a good idea to have Layla spend time with Max...so hope ya like!

* * *

Layla and Max

At the Jade Palace, Layla sits down on the steps of the Training Hall just looking at the sunset going down and she began to take a few moments for herself and she soon heard someone walk in the courtyard and to her surprise, she looks up and sees that it's only Max coming in.

She lets out a little smile as Max walks up the steps and when the white tiger cub saw Layla sitting there, he lets out a smile and said, "Hi."

"Hey, Max." Layla responded.

Max then sat down on the steps with her and he asked, "What are you doing here all alone?"

Layla then answered to Max, "Just needed to look at the sunset for a while."

"Oh...can I watch it with you?" asked Max.

Layla seemed surprised that Max would keep her company and she replied, "Yeah, sure."

Both tigers look up at the sky and were amazed by the mixtures of the colors of the sky and it completely blew both of them away, including Max. Layla then turns to Max and she said, "Hey, Max..."

"Yeah?" asked Max.

"I sorta wanted to ask you a question, but I wasn't quite sure how you'd handle it." Layla replied.

Max then turns to Layla and he immediately asked, "Is it about my birth mom?"

Layla froze for a second and figured that the young cub had read her mind and knew that it would be subject that she's asking him and she responded, "Yes."

Max blinked for a few seconds and he said, "Okay."

Just then, Layla took a deep sigh and asked him, "Are you still mad at her because of what she did to you?"

Max then looks up at the black tigress and replied, "No. I'm not mad at her anymore, but I still have bad dreams about her coming back for me. I still don't know why."

"Well...sometimes parents just aren't ready to be parents and they'd rather have better things to do in their time than to take care of a cub." Layla replied.

Max nodded his head with every word she's saying and he said, "That hurts."

Layla could tell that this kid might grow up without a mother and she then tells him, "I'm really sorry that she hurt you."

"I'm over it now. It doesn't bother me like it used to. My panda dad said that the best way to replace those bad memories is to fill them with good memories and just be happy." Max added.

"I hope it stays that way." Layla said.

"Me too."

Layla pats Max on the shoulder and she said to him, "Heard you have some good kung-fu skills."

"I'm sorta good." Max answered.

Layla smirked at this and said, "Not from what Faith told me. I hope to spend more time with you."

She then hugs Max and in response, Max lets out a small purr and nodded his head in understanding and Layla lets out one lone tear as she held Max so tightly and wonders why his birth mother would hurt him the way she did and she's thinking that if she had him as a son, she would give more love, compassion and time devoted to him and be that mother figure for him.

They both let go, continuing watching the sun go down and Layla seems to have a simple attachment to the young tiger cub and thought to herself, 'I wish I could be a mother figure for Max.'

* * *

Was that sweet or what? Stay tuned for more!


	33. White Tiger Brothers

A little bonding scene with Kaizer and Max.

* * *

White Tiger Brothers

At the barracks, Kaizer is just sitting around in his room, just lost in his thoughts and he was quite used to being by himself and as he looked up at the ceiling, he began thinking about Max and how that little tiger cub entered his buried heart the second he met him.

Kaizer lets out a deep sigh and tried to get this out of his head, but what he's gone through is proven inescapable and he couldn't help but feel his heart coming through and it's like he felt like he was gonna go crazy over this.

A sudden knock on the door broke those thoughts away and he said, "Who is it?"

"Max."

Kaizer blinked his eyes a few times to make sure that he wants him to come in, but isn't sure what he might think of himself when he comes in the room. He then said, "Come in."

Without hesitation, Max opens the door to his room and walks in and when the two tigers came face to face with each other, Kaizer was nervous beyond nervous and wasn't sure what he wanted from him and Kaizer asked, "What can I do for you?"

"Hope said I would find you here." Max replied.

'I'm gonna kill that bear.' Kaizer thought to himself.

Max came towards Kaizer's bedside and said, "I just wanted to know if you were okay."

Kaizer seemed surprised to hear this coming from Max and he asked, "Why me?"

"When I saw you walking by, I wanted to say 'hi' to you, but you didn't say anything. I thought you might've been sick or something." Max replied.

Kaizer looks at Max in the eye and said, "I'm fine. You shouldn't even worry about me."

"Why not?" asked Max.

Kaizer wasn't even sure how to tell this to Max and he just told him, "Something that you wouldn't understand."

Max could see that Kaizer is a little bit reluctant to say anything to him and he just told him, "Are you scared?"

Kaizer then froze for a second after hearing that question coming out of Max and he slowly turns to him and asked, "Scared of what?"

"That...you might be scared of me." Max answered.

Kaizer sat up for a second and he looks up at Max...almost as if he already dug deep into his deep thoughts very quickly and read what's on his head and said, "Why would you say that?"

"You're scared that you'll hurt me...aren't you?"

Kaizer didn't really know how to respond to that...but he knew that Max was right. He lets out a heavy exhale and he looks up at Max again and this time, he motions him to sit next to him, which Max immediately obliged to do so and Kaizer said, "I just...don't really show a lot of my feelings that much."

"Why don't you?" asked Max.

"That's really not important...but I'm just really nervous around kids...except fot Kovu, Borko and Kaila. I just don't know how I can handle them, but I'm actually afraid that I might hurt them for no reason." Kaizer admitted.

Max places his hand on Kaizer's shoulder and he told him, "You won't hurt me."

Kaizer scoffs in disbelief and said, "You're only eight. How do you know that?"

"Because I've been through suffering through most of my life thanks to my birth parents, some savage wolves and bullies. I think that's pretty much enough." Max replied.

"And what does that have to do with anything?" asked Kaizer.

Max then told him, "Because you're my best friend."

Those two words seemed to surprise Kaizer the most and he never thought that he would be friends with an eight year old cub and when he turned to Max, he asked, "I am?"

"More than that...my tiger brother."

Kaizer wished he found it hard to believe, but those words couldn't escape him and Max said, "We're both white tigers. We're practically related."

Kaizer blinked a few times and just looked away for a few moments and he said, "I just...I just don't wanna mess this up."

"Mess what up?" asked Max.

Kaizer turnes to Max again and he said, "I know you see me as a tiger brother and I'm not saying I don't agree with it...but I don't know if I can be a good one. I'm just afraid I might mess it up and that I'd lose my friendship with you because of me."

"You won't. Arizona's my true wolf brother and I know you won't replace him." Max added.

"I know. How did you get through these things without it suffering you for the rest of your life?" asked Kaizer.

Max then told him, "My adopted father told me to just focus on the good memories rather than the bad."

A little piece of wisdom from someone so young completely made sense for a while and he has been harboring a lot of bad memories from his past and within months, he was surrounded by friends and family...a unit that he was longing to have. He turned to Max and said, "Your adopted dad's wise."

"We can start off by being friends...if you want to." Max said, happily.

Kaizer nodded his head a little and he said, "I can't make any promises about it...but I'll try my best."

Max smiled at this and said, "That's fair enough."

Kaizer then lets out a smile and Max hugged him again and Kaizer felt his heart growing a little bit and thought to himself, 'I wish I could be a good tiger brother to this little guy.'

* * *

That was pretty sweet. Kaizer, the spotlight's on you, bro! Weigh in if you must. There's more coming up next!


	34. Meeting Taisuki Again

Just thought that I would include Taisuki in this.

* * *

Meeting Taisuki Again

One sunny afternoon at the Jade Palace where most of the gang was just hanging around the courtyard, just talking and things like that and soon enough, in comes Takami walking by and he tells them, "Hey, guys...Taisuki's on his way here."

The Hazards immediately knew the routine to check their pockets to make sure they don't have anything on them because they know how fast Taisuki can swipe random items without even knowing and Arizona looks up and asked, "Is that that raccoon you guys know?"

"Yep, he's good friends with Kovu, Kaila and Borko, but he can swipe things out of your person when you're not looking." Ryo explained.

"That doesn't sound good." Musaki added.

Faith looks up at Musaki and she said, "We're trying to help him stop stealing."

Takami scoffs at that and he said, "You know he's more likely to steal again even when he gets the message."

Everyone double and triple checked to see if they don't have anything in their persons just so that Taisuki can't grab anything without anyone suspecting it. Suddenly, Kiba pointed to Musaki on his yin-yang necklace that he's still wearing and motioned him to take it off before Taisuki sees it. He quickly removes it and places it with where the others put their stuff away to hide it and after that, Taisuki finally shows up.

"What's up, my buds?" asked Taisuki.

"Hey, Taisuki." everyone said.

The raccoon went up to Kovu and does a little fist-bump and said, "Sup, Kovu?"

"Not much, Taisuki. You?" asked Kovu.

"Eh, you know...doing a little bit of valley scoping, trying to see what's new there." Taisuki replied.

Takami clears his throat in response and asked, "As in stealing again?"

Taisuki began to stammer and scoffs at this in response and said, "Takami...I'm hurt by those words. I've never even stolen anything!"

But soon enough...Taisuki's bag revealed a completely different story when he saw random amounts of stuff popping out and Ryo looks over and he sees a wallet, pieces of jewelry and money and shows them to Taisuki and asked, "How do you explain these?"

Taisuki lets out a nervous chuckle and said, "Where did those come from?"

Faith lets out a deep sigh and said to him, "Just couldn't stop yourself?"

"Hey, I'm a raccoon. It's what we do." Taisuki said, in defense.

Musaki looks over at most of the gang and he asked, "How do you deal with this guy?"

"We ask ourselves that question each time he sees us." Skyler answered.

Taisuki lets out a deep exhale and he said, "I know I'm a thief, but it's pretty much how my family goes. You guys don't know the streets like I do."

"And we don't have to because we already do. You know stealing is wrong." Layla told him.

"I know, but I can't help it."

Arizona then looks up at Taisuki and he said, "I think you need to realize that stealing could lead you to some deep consequences later in life. You may not realize it now, but it might come back to haunt you someday when you're older."

"Like when you 'borrowed' that friendship necklace Borko made me." Kovu said, glaring at him.

"And when you 'borrowed' Kovu's journal." Borko pointed.

That seemed to surprise Kovu the most and he turned to Taisuki and asked, "That was you? I thought Borko took it."

Taisuki chuckled at this and he said, "Well...I did bring it back while you were gone. Who would've thought that you'd be Kaila's mate in your future?"

Takami looked surprised at this and he asked, "Excuse me?"

"I knew it!" Ryo exclaimed.

"Was that a secret?" asked Taisuki.

* * *

Funny, huh? Hazards, weigh in if you must and stay tuned for more!


	35. Kiba Hangs with Max

We turn to Kiba hanging out with Max. You can see that these two are like brothers.

* * *

Kiba Hangs with Max

At the training hall, Max made his way inside to find Arizona and as soon as he came down there, he saw Kiba doing some exercising and the white wolf was caught off-guard when Max walks by and he said, "Hey, buddy."

"Hi." Max replied.

Kiba did some stretching and then asked Max, "What's going on?"

Max clears his throat and he asked, "I was just looking for Arizona. Have you seen him?"

"No, I haven't seen him." Kiba replied.

"Oh, okay. Well...is it okay if I hang out with you?" asked Max.

Kiba looks up at the little white tiger and he lets out a smile and replied, "Yeah, I'd love to hang out with you."

Not long after, Kiba started playing a little hide-and-seek with Max where Max had to count while Kiba hides, letting out a slight chuckle thinking that he won't find Max...but soon enough, Max quickly finds him hiding in one of the trees and chased him down and when it became Max's turn to hide, Kiba became a heck of a good seeker by tracking down Max's scent.

When he found him, he shouted, "Gotcha!"

Now it was Kiba chasing Max and when he caught him, Kiba gave the tiger cub a little noogie and both of them started laughing with each other.

Soon after, Max shows Kiba some moves he's got and it really impressed the white wolf a lot and he thought it was better to teach him a few moves and Max learned some from Kiba very quickly and instilled it in his own way. Kiba lets out a small chuckle and does a basic stance and he lets Max punch his paws and he could see hos much strength this kid has gotten.

'This kid's gonna be a kung-fu master.' Kiba thought.

Kiba then shows Max a little flip move, which impressed the young tiger cub and he tries to copy what Kiba did and slipped up a few times. Kiba comes up to him and encourages him to try again and within the first couple of tries, Max seemed to almost get it right and Kiba's one to fully understand the process and patted his head and smiled at him.

Not long after, Kiba and Max did some drawings together where Kiba drew himself punching Tai Lung and Shen while Max drew a picture of himself being bigger and when he showed it to Kiba, he lets out an excited chuckle as he saw Max a lot bigger and Tigress a lot smaller than him and said, "Wow...you got drawing skills."

Kiba lets Max sees his own and Max was amazed to see a drawing of Kiba being a ninja and said, "Cool!"

"Not as cool as you." Kiba said, playfully.

Several minutes later, Kiba and Max sat down on the steps of the training hall, just talking and things like that and Max began to open up more to Kiba and the white wolf was surprised that this was the kid Arizona mentioned about him being hurt by his own mother and when he explained it all in detail, Kiba was a little speechless.

Max could tell in Kiba's eyes that he's never seen anyone go through what he had to endure and opens up a lot about it, but commends him for being courageous anyway.

"Hey, Max...can I ask you something?" asked Kiba.

"Mm-hmm." Max said, as he nodded his head.

"Um...how come you never told me about what had happened...you know, with your birth parents?" asked Kiba.

Max scratched the back of his neck and he said, "I remember some parts, but I wasn't sure if I was gonna tell anyone because you wouldn't like me."

"Why wouldn't I?" asked Kiba.

"Sometimes...I used to think that what my mom did was my fault and I was the one to blame for not letting her stop."

That seemed to break the white wolf's heart after hearing what Max had to say what he had to say and he blinked his eyes for a second and he couldn't imagine what he had to go through and he said, "Things like that are never your fault. It actually breaks my heart to hear what you went through and then to open up about it when you're so young."

"I know. I wasn't sure if I was gonna trust anyone." Max replied.

Kiba puts his paw around Max's shoulder and he said, "I would trust you. You know, you're a brave kid...not to mention like my little brother."

"I am? Arizona's my wolf brother." Max added.

"I know. And he must be lucky to have someone like you around...same goes for me." Kiba added.

Max saw some tears coming out of Kiba's eyes and he wipes them away from him and said, "Don't cry."

Kiba lets the tears fall anyway and he grabbed ahold of Max and hugged him deeply and said, "I just...want you to know that I would be there for you. Words can't express how much of a good person you really are."

Max responded with a little purr and he said to Kiba, "You're a good person too."

They both let go for a second and Kiba quickly wiped his tears away and said, "I'm sorry. I just...I just want to be a good brother to you, even though Arizona's your actual wolf brother."

"I know he's my big brother in my heart." Max stated.

"Right you are." Kiba said, with a smile as he hugs Max again.

They were both unaware that Arizona was looking over and his heart was warmed up after seeing Max and Kiba bond together and as soon as he walked by, he kneeled down and said, "Hey, Max."

Max looks up and sees Arizona come over and he said, "Hi."

Kiba turns around and he sees Arizona right behind him and he said, "Hey, Arizona. We were just...hanging out and stuff."

Arizona nods his head and said, "He tugged your heartstrings, didn't he?"

"I guess." Kiba replied, then sniffles.

"Yeah, I know. He's a cool person." Arizona added.

"If I had a brother like Max, I would do anything for him." Kiba said.

Arizona chuckled at that and couldn't agree more than anything and he tells Max to come over to the Hall of heroes and after that, Max smiled at Kiba and waved at him and Kiba waves back in response with a little bit of tears falling down.

"Hey, Kiba...you okay?"

Kiba then turns around and sees Ryo standing there next to him and he quickly rubs his eyes and said, "Yeah...I'm fine."

"Have you been crying or something?"

"Nah..just...something in my eye, that's all." Kiba added, before walking away.

* * *

Kiba's got the spotlight to weigh in on this...so stick around for more!


	36. Arizona's Jealousy

We begin to see an angrier side of Arizona that no one sees before...that involves jealousy.

* * *

Arizona's Jealousy

Throughout sometime...Arizona has looked over most of the Hazards, seeing how Max is spending a little time with them more and the grey wolf seemed to be a little bit scared about the fact that most of them are stealing Max away from him. The more he thought about it, the more angry he became and he pounded his fist on the wall and just walked into the training hall.

He decided to take out his frustrations out on every single training equipment he thought possible and released his envious fury and as soon as he punched the crap out of the dummy, he kicks it so hard that it was sent flying through the training hall and immediately shoved at Tigress, just as she was coming in the training hall.

In response, she immediately let her instincts take over and took it on Arizona, but what she didn't expect is that Arizona beat the holy freaking mess out of her and slammed her down in every which way possible and ended up throwing her against the wall as hard as he could.

She thought that she was gonna get Arizona back, but the tables were turned...which didn't really sit well with her.

Soon enough, Arizona took a chance to take a deep breath and regain his energy to nearly take everything out on the training hall and Tigress saw this as destruction, but she could tell that something was bothering him deeply and she stomped on his tail to stop, making Arizona howl in response.

He glared at her and asked, "Why did you step on my tail?! You don't see me stepping on yours!"

She has never seen Arizona that mad before and she said, "What is wrong with you? You're normally not like this!"

"What's it to ya?!" he barked back.

"Well, for one thing...the training dummy hit me hard and you beat me down as hard and almost destroyed the training hall." Tigress explained.

Arizona scoffs at this and said, "So what if I did? I just needed to take it out on something."

"That's no excuse for you to do what you did." Tigress retorted.

"Like I freaking care! Just get out of my face before I swipe it down for you!" Arizona screamed.

Tigress had no idea that Arizona was mad about something and even if she wanted to get mad at him back, he'd still have to take his anger out on him and wouldn't stop until he finds something to hurt her completely. But one look into his eyes explains something...a single tear almost coming out.

Her face quickly softened up and just stood there, speechless.

She took a few seconds to calm herself down before something else goes wrong and she said, "Something's wrong."

"You're still here?" asked Arizona.

"Yes, I am. Can you explain to me why you're angry all of a sudden?" asked Tigress, in the calmest way possible.

Arizona just stood on the edge of the wall, trying to keep his composure down and just lets out a heavy sigh and replied, "It's Max."

That surprised her the most to know that Arizona's angry at his tiger brother for some reason and she asked, "What did he do to you that made you want to take it out on me and this room?"

"Well...whenever I see Max with the rest of the hazards, it just made me feel hurt, scared, angry...almost as if he likes them better than me." Arizona replied.

That's when it hit her...

"You're jealous, aren't you?" asked Tigress.

Arizona looked up at her like she was crazy for asking him that type of question and he said, "Why?"

"Because you assume that Max hangs around more with them that he's leaving you behind and wouldn't be your brother anymore. And that you're afraid that he'll replace you with them." Tigress answered.

Arizona stayed silent throughout and the more he thought about it, he knew she was right. He hated to feel anger towards Max because that's his little brother and the last thing he would do is intentionally hurt him on purpose out of jealousy. He lowers his head down in shame and lowers his ears down for a while and he said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" asked Tigress.

"Taking it out on you. I guess I just needed to blow some steam." Arizona added.

"I understand. Just not in the right way though. Max will always be your tiger brother and you'll always be his wolf brother and nothing's gonna change that...period." Tigress stated.

Arizona nodded his head in agreement and he said, "To be jealous of my brother is ridiculous. I don't like hurting people...at all."

"I think you need to talk to Max about it." Tigress suggested.

"Okay."

As Arizona departs from the training hall, Tigress stopped him for a second and she said, "Hit me with the training dummy again and your tail's gonna be mine for 2 weeks."

"Sorry about that." Arizona said.

"And I didn't fully enjoy being beaten by you, but at least your strength's progressing."

* * *

Several minutes later...

Arizona makes his way to the barracks to find Max and he eventually found him in the kitchen and he said, "Hey, Max...how are you?"

Max looks up and sees Arizona walk in and he immediately leaped onto him and gave him a huge hug, which was unexpected...but he was happy to receive it anyway.

"Max...am I still your wolf brother?" asked Arizona.

Max smiled at him and he said, "Of course you are...forever and always. Why?"

Arizona sat down for a second and he tells Max, "Well, you and me don't hang out like we used to because you were always around most of the Hazards. I was kinda scared that you like them more than me."

Max looks at Arizona in the eye and he said, "I'm still your best buddy. I just felt like I wanted to meet some new friends because your friends are my friends like my friends are your friends. But brothers are forever. I would never choose them over you because you're a part of my family."

That seemed to warm up Arizona's heart already and he smiled at that and said, "I'm lucky to be your wolf brother."

"And I'm happy to be your tiger brother." Max said.

Both of them gave each other a fist bump and hugged each other and Arizona lets out one tear and whispered, "I love you, Max."

"I love you too." Max said.

Most of the Hazards saw this and they let out a collective, "Aw..."

Max and Arizona turned around and saw them standing there and said, "Hello."

"That's so sweet." Faith said.

"Got me choked up." Kiba said, in verge of crying.

Takami went over to Max and he said, "We were gonna head to the training hall for a sec. Wanna come?"

"Can Arizona go too?" asked Max, looking at his wolf brother.

"Yeah, of course."

Arizona stood up for a second and he went along with the others and he turned to Max and said, "You didn't have to do that."

Max smiled at him and he told him, "I did because I don't want to make you feel left out."

Arizona couldn't argue with that and he smiled at his little tiger brother and said, "Still brothers."

"Forever."

They were unaware that Tigress was watching with a smile and she whispered, "He'll always have you in your heart."

* * *

Dramatic and heartwarming, huh? Hazards, please weigh in. Stick around for more!


	37. Arizona vs Kiba

Time for a little action sparring session with Kiba and Arizona.

* * *

Arizona vs. Kiba

Arizona was starting to get used to having an Alpha as a friend and he figured that since he's hanging around with Kiba that he should place his skills to the ultimate test and when he saw Kiba walk onto the courtyard, the white wolf greeted him as he walked past him. Arizona stood up and he said, "What you planning to do?"

"Not much." Kiba replied.

Arizona chuckled for a second and said, "Cool. Feel like a little sparring...one on one?"

Kiba immediately jumped the gun on this one and he said, "I'm ready whenever you're ready, dude!"

As the two faced each other, both wolves were looking at each other and Arizona was the first one to charge at Kiba, landing some throwing punches and Kiba completely dodged them all in a quick second and planned to punch Arizona as fast as he can and went for the attack run where he spun around and kicked him straight to the mouth.

Arizona fell down and he quickly got himself back up and started sparring with Kiba and he was going at his absolute hardest than ever and fought like he never fought before, making his skills go the extra mile...a little more aggressive than ever.

Kiba ducked all of his moves and went behind him, swinging him down for the count and tripped on Arizona's ankles, making him fall down to the ground. Kiba smiled at that and Arizona stood up and attacked him again, kicking the white wolf in the stomach.

Arizona got down on all fours and so did Kiba as the two leaped towards each other and knocked each other out and as soon as they got down on their feet, both wolves were determined to keep going until they stop.

"Man, dude...you're a lot more faster than me." Kiba said, panting.

"See what a year in the Jade Palace can do?" asked Arizona.

"I can see that." Kiba added.

Arizona kept himself going and swung Kiba down on the ground and placed his foot on his back and flipped him across. Kiba grabbed ahold of his tail and swung it down hard and then twisted him around, but Arizona grabbed onto one swinging clubs and in a crazy twist...threw Kiba off of him and then, he was left dangling onto the swinging clubs.

"Uh...what are you doing?" asked Kiba.

"You'll see." Arizona said, with a smirk.

He then swung around and when he lets go, he dived towards Kiba's shin and kicked him in the jaw while doing a flip and gracefully stuck the landing. Kiba fell down on the ground and he lets out a few grunts as he got himself up and ended up looking at each other for a sec.

"And I thought Ryo had the more harder skills." Kiba commented.

Arizona chuckled in response and he said, "He's got nothing on me."

Kiba then stuck out his paw for a handshake and Arizona looks over on what he's offering, but knowing that he's cool, he wouldn't let that slip through his paw and accepted the handshake anyway and then a bro hug.

"You see...I may be an Alpha, but I'm a much more friendly and likable one. I just wanna break all stereotypes of different wolves and convince them to come together as one." Kiba stated.

Arizona was surprised to hear that coming from an Alpha and he took those words and ran with it in his memory and he said, "I'll remember that."

"I'd be honored to spar with you again." Kiba said, smiling.

"Same here." Arizona added.

Both wolves ended up giving themselves another fist bump before getting out of the training hall in which Kiba began to share jokes with Arizona and they were glad that they could be good buds.

* * *

Though Arizona had a little bad experience with Alphas before, he's willing to give Kiba a chance. The spotlight is on Kiba...so weign in! Gots more coming up!


	38. The Two Girlfriends

We now turn to Musaki and Arizona's girlfriends. I thought that maybe they should be a part in this too.

* * *

The Two Girlfriends

It was a clear afternoon at the Valley of Peace and a female panda walks over to the village to check in on her boyfriend to see how he's doing and around the same time, she met up with this female wolf that just left Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop and she said, "Hey, Sierra!"

Sierra turned around and was excited to see her friend and said, "Hi, Summer!"

"So...what's new?" asked Summer.

Sierra walked with Summer and she responded, "On my way to the Jade Palace. Me and Arizona are gonna have a little picnic underneath the Peach Tree."

Summer widened her eyes at this and she said, "That's awesome. I wanted to check and see how Musaki is doing. It's been a long time since we've seen each other."

"Have you ever thought about doing kung-fu?" asked Sierra.

"Yeah, I would, but my little brothers said that kung-fu is a man's sport and that girls should stick to cooking, cleaning and shopping for their men...which I find totally offensive." Summer replied.

"What do they know?" asked Sierra.

Summer chuckled at this and said, "Girls are completely capable of doing anything guys can do...only we do it better."

"Much better." Sierra agreed.

When they had made it to the Jade Palace, Summer knocked on the doors of the Hall of Heroes and she looks up at Sierra and asked, "You nervous?"

"No. I hope Arizona doesn't try anything too complicated to impress me." Sierra added.

"Why would he?" asked Summer.

"Last time we had a date, he stood there at my house, like 2 hours earlier before we were gonna go and waited for me to come out and I could tell that he was so nervous. He had his mohawk lowered down, fur groomed up, wearing all tuxedos and everything and he tried on sandals. It was just so cute." Sierra explained.

Summer giggled at this and she said, "Well, Musaki's kinda the same...but he contains himself very well."

When the door opens, they see Master Shifu standing there and Summer said, "Hello, Master Shifu."

"Summer, Sierra...to what do I owe this visit?" asked Shifu, as he bowed to the girls.

They bowed back as well and said, "To see our boyfriends."

Soon enough, Kiba walks into the door and sees both girls standing there and he widened his eyes at that and he said, "Hello, there."

"Hi." said Summer.

"My name's Kiba Toshida. What's yours?"

"I'm Summer and this is my friend, Sierra. We actually came to see our boyfriends." Summer stated.

That seemed to disappoint Kiba a little bit and he said, "How sweet."

But the disappointment was short-lived when Musaki and Arizona came to the door and when they saw their girlfriends, their reactions were surprised that they arrived unexpectedly and both girls waved at them and they waved back.

"Hey, Summer." Musaki said.

"Sierra...hi." Arizona said, very bashfully.

Sierra giggled at the fact that Arizona was definitely shy and she kissed him on the cheek and said, "Thought I'd come to surprise you."

"Thanks. I'm most definitely surprised." Arizona said.

Musaki looks up at Summer and asked, "So...what's up?"

"I thought that maybe you can teach me some kung-fu moves." Summer replied.

That surprised Musaki a lot and he asked, "You do? Why?"

Summer sighed and said, "My adopted little brothers told me that I shouldn't do kung-fu because it's a 'man's job' and our job is to cook, clean and do shopping for them and that we shouldn't do kung-fu unless we're wearing a bathing suit or something like that, which I think is ridiculous. And he thinks women that do kung-fu are just wasting their time and that we should 'get hurt and let the men protect us'. What idiot taught them that?"

"That is surprising. But no worries...I would be glad to show you everything I know." Musaki stated.

"Thanks! I wanna prove my brothers that girls can do kung-fu too. And I know that since you live with two female kung-fu masters, I thought I would get a few pointers from my sweet and most well-skilled boyfriend." Summer said.

That part made Musaki blush a little bit and Kiba was very quick to react and he said, "Dude, you're blushing! Are you guys gonna have kids?"

Shifu immediately reacted to this by simply putting his cane over Kiba's tail, making him howl and Shifu told him, "You should not interfere with both of their personal lives. It is strictly their business."

"Answering to your question, Kiba...we're not even gonna discuss it. We haven't reached that point." Musaki stated.

With that, Musaki took Summer to the training hall while Sierra looks at Arizona and she said, "Would you like to have a picnic under the Peach Tree with me?"

Arizona nods his head in response and he asked, "Should I...wear something fancy or...?"

Sierra giggled at that and she said, "No, you can just come as you are."

"Okay." Arizona replied.

* * *

At the training hall

Musaki began showing Summer some moves of his own and then, Summer comes and gives it a try and on the first try, she made a few mistakes, but Musaki was committed to keep helping her in any single way. After a couple of moves, Summer was ready to test it and she grabbed Musaki's wrist and then placed him around her and she asked, "How was that?"

"Impressive. I think I would love to see the look on your brothers' face when you show them some moves you made." Musaki added.

Minutes went by and Musaki continued teaching Summer everything about kung-fu and brought in some moves and most of those were self-defense modes and she puts herself to the test when she took Musaki down and she took him down hard.

Musaki was definitely surprised at this and he told her, "I think you're gonna join the ranks of every female kung-fu master in all of China."

Just then, Skyler, Tigress, Viper, Layla and Faith came in the training hall and they see Musaki doing a little sparring session with his girlfriend and Viper was the first one to greet her and said, "Hello, Summer."

"Hi, Viper." Summer replied.

"What brings you in our training hall?" asked Tigress.

Summer helps Musaki stand up and she replied, "My boyfriend's teaching me a few moves. I know that you and Viper are female kung-fu masters and I figured I might as well learn from my awesome kung-fu boyfriend...and also to prove my adopted brothers that kung-fu is not just for men."

After Summer explained what her adopted brothers said to her, the reaction from them was shocking to them and Faith was the first one to respond and said, "That is so wrong!"

"Not to mention completely sexist." Tigress agreed.

"What do they know?" asked Skyler.

Musaki replied, "Obviously nothing. So, me and Summer are doing some training."

Layla then suggests, "How about we all teach Summer a thing or two?"

Summer nods her head in response and said, "I'd love that!"

* * *

Peach Tree

Sierra and Arizona were sitting down under the Sacred Peach tree just enjoying themselves and enjoying their lunch and as they ate stuff from Mr. Ping's, Sierra asked, "How's Max doing?"

"Max is great. Doing fine, actually." Arizona replied.

Sierra nodded and she said, "I think it's really cute that you get to take the role as his big brother."

"Me and Max can relate a lot with each other. I think we're like...two lost souls just searching for each other and to find some reliance. The kid surprises me." Arizona answered.

Arizona took a bowl of his soup and just drank the remaining parts down and after he sets it down, Sierra sees a string of noodles underneath Arizona's chin and she started giggling.

"What's so funny?" asked Arizona.

She then motioned to him that there was something under his chin and when Arizona checked it for himself, he could see what she was talking about when he takes the string of noodle off of his chin and said, "Thanks."

"You're so funny. Even more funny when you're nervous." Sierra added.

That sorta made Arizona blush a little bit and she told him, "It's okay, Ari. Nothing wrong with that."

Arizona sighed and he said, "I've never been in a relationship with anyone before and I just...don't wanna mess that up."

"You won't. You know I love you, right?" asked Sierra.

"I know I do." Arizona replied.

Both wolves leaned in towards each other and almost kissed each other and they heard some 'oooh's' come out of Kiba and Ryo and when they turned around, there they were.

"You two were gonna kiss, weren't ya?" asked Kiba.

"Well...we were." Arizona stated.

"Come on, Zona! Slip her the tongue!" Ryo exclaimed.

Just then, thry received a bonk to the head from Skyler and said, "You guys should be ashamed of yourselves! I mean, seriously!"

Sierra looks over at the yellow fox and said, "Hello there. My name's Sierra."

Skyler turns around and she sees Sierra and said, "Hi, there. My name's Skyler Tifan and those two hooligans...that's Kiba and the other one is Ryo. I am really sorry about these two pups."

"Pups?! Look who's talking!" Ryo shouted.

Skyler chuckled in response and she focused on Arizona and Sierra and said, "We'll be leaving now. Again, really sorry. I'll let you two continue what you were doing and I'll sure that these two bad boys are properly disciplined."

Ryo mocks Skyler's voice at that and both wolves walked out of the Sacred peach Tree and said to herself, "Boys...you know how they are."

Sierra chuckled at this and she said, "My Arizona's a sweet gentleman."

"Nice meeting you."

After Skyler left, they finally kissed on the lips for a full minute and after that, Arizona blinked his eyes for a minute and said, "You're the best thing ever happened to me."

"So are you."

* * *

Funny and romantic! Hazards, please weigh in if you must. I'll gain a lot more chapters coming up!


	39. A Tiger's Jealousy

We now turn to where a certain tiger master expresses her 'jealousy' towards a simple tiger cub.

* * *

A Tiger's Jealousy

Max was sitting at the Training Hall, thinking about what had happened with Tigress a few minutes ago and he asked, "Why was she so mad at me? I didn't do anything to her."

Just then, Takami walks on in and he sees Max sitting there and said, "Hey, little guy. You okay?"

"Mr. Takami?"

Takami chuckled lightly at that formal name and he said, "It's Takami. Just Takami."

Max then turns to Takami and he asked, "What's wrong with Tigress? She just got really mad at me for something and I don't even know what it is."

That seemed to surprise Takami after hearing that come out of Max and knowing her, it's probably something that she felt and tried to hide it so she can take it out on someone and hurt them intentionally and he said, "What was it that she was mad about?"

"Something about me and she wouldn't tell me why and then she just yelled at me." Max answered.

Takami figured that there was something up with this and he told him, "Don't worry about it. I'll see what I can do to help you out with."

"Thanks." Max said, smiling.

Takami then stood up and entered the training hall for a second and to no surprise, Tigress was beating the crap out of the dummy...so much so that there were holes in the walls and that's when he figured that something was up with her.

And when she kicked it in mid-air, Takami quickly dodged it out of the way and it ended up hitting her instead.

When she looked up, she saw Takami there and she scowled, "What do you want?"

Takami clears his throat and said, "First of all, that was close. And second...are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. What makes you think that I'm not?" asked Tigress, as she kept punching the dummy.

Takami then looks around the hall and he sees a bunch of holes there and he replied, "Well...a normal kung-fu master would take her frustrations out on the walls and leave holes in them."

"Your point?" asked Tigress.

"Would it have something to do with an eight year old cub?" asked Takami.

Tigress froze for a second and continued punching the dummy just as hard and Takami knew that that was her answer and he asked, "Why are you so angry at Max? What did he do to you?"

"He didn't do nothing to me...except for the fact that he came here, giving everyone their time to him." Tigress growled.

Takami tilted his head in response and he then asked, "You're jealous of Max?"

"No! What makes you think I'm jealous of that little cub?" Tigress scowled.

"I thought it might have something to do with Faith giving him a few lessons." Takami replied.

She got so furious that she unsheated her claws to claw Takami in the face, but Takami dodged out of the way and just fell down on the wooden gauntlets and it pushed her towards the Field of Fiery Death where the flames caught her and ended up getting burned.

Tigress then got herself up and she looked over at Takami and she growled at him for dodging, but it was actually for something else.

"It's always about Max! Max this and Max that! Max, Max, Max, Max, Max, Max, Max, Max, Max! He gets all of the attention and even you and your friends spend a lot more time with him rather than half of us! And whenever he's around, everyone always comes up to him like nothing else matters! Why do you like him better than me?! WHY?! WHY!" Tigress screamed.

Takami didn't really know what to say or even to respond to that and he had thought about it before that he did spend a lot of time with Max more often and then it did bring to a point that maybe he did hang around Max a little bit at a time and he looks over to Tigress and said, "I didn't know it bothered you that much."

A few silent moments came to fruition and all Takami could say was, "I'm sorry."

Tigress then looked at him and after she heard him apologize...her rage had faded away into guilt and shame for what she had said to him and she said, "What?"

"I do hang around Max a lot and I could see that he's got a lot of attention, same as everyone else. But I guess it bothers you a lot that he's got all the attention instead of you, so for that I'm sorry." Takami answered.

"No...it's not your fault. It's not even Max's fault. It's mine. I am jealous of him, but not because of the attention. Because he's gone through the most horrifying ordeal that he had to endure in, but he's still able to smile about it. That's what got me on edge is the fact that he's been through a lot and never gets mad about it. For someone at that age...he seems to be a lot more stronger than that." Tigress stated.

"It's undeniable." Takami said.

"Takami...I've treated him really harshly lately and I guess I just let it get to me that I wanted to hurt him intentionally because I felt the same way he did...though I've never been molested. And he doesn't deserve that." Tigress added.

Takami then went to her and said, "You can make it up to him."

"How can I? How can I make it up to him after what I did? He'll probably hate me for the rest of his life." Tigress said.

"Now, I know that's not true. Max has been through enough and I know he will never hate you. Not at all." Takami retorted.

"How do you know?"

"Because he has something that you've hidden...a forgiving heart." Takami responded.

Tigress pasued on that note for a second and realized that Takami's right about that and she felt the need to take responsibility for how she's treated him lately and to show harshness to an eight year old is ridiculous because all that's doing is making him suffer the same way she did and it's definitely not worth it. Both tigers walked out of the training hall and Max was still sitting there and Tigress walked in front of him and she said, "Max..."

Max turns around and saw Tigress sitting there and he wasn't sure what she was gonna do with him and she told him, "I'm sorry for how I've been treating you lately. I see that my words and actions have been bothering you a lot and for that, I deeply apologize."

"It's okay." Max responded.

"No, it's not. You didn't deserve it. I was just worried...and a little jealous of you. Not because of the attention, but all the things you went through and you're still able to smile about it. How do you do it?" asked Tigress.

Max then tells her, "My dad told me to just be happy and don't let whatever happened to you get in the way of it. Everyday's gonna be a better day. We may not know when, but things will get better."

"Whoa...someone's got wisdom." Takami said, blown away.

"That's a Bushido-Akio thing; you're never too young to gain wisdom." Max stated.

"Understood." Takami said.

Max stuck out his hand, indicating in the hope that he and Tigress can become friends rather than enemies and when Tigress looked at it, she began thinking of all the things she had said and did to him and questioned herself that does she really deserve it, but when Takami looked at her...she could tell that he encouraged her to take the hand.

She then shook Max's hand and that made Max smile which made her smile too and she quickly hugged him and that warmed up her heart already.

"Let's see if the Dragon Warrior can top that." Takami muttered to himself.

* * *

Now how's that for drama? Hazards, weigh in!


	40. All Wolves Night Out

What do all four wolves do on a night off of training?

* * *

All Wolves Night Out

At the Peach Tree, Arizona, Ryo, Kiba, Chronos and Zack got together, just talking and joking around with each other...although Kiba's the biggest joker out of the five wolves when he did a trick that involves sticking his tongue to his left ear.

Ryo rolled his eyes at Kiba based on that trick and he said, "Do you have to be that disgusting?"

"What's disgusting is also funny." Kiba said, laughing.

Arizona looks up at Chronos and Zack and he asked, "How do you deal with them?"

Chronos took a deep exhale over this and replied, "Imagine being placed in the middle of Ryo's rage and Kiba's...weirdness and when these guys go at each other, it's like a big fight fest and the only thing I can do is stomp both of their tails or bite their toes."

Ryo looks up at Chronos in response and he said, "Yeah, don't do that again. Last time you did that, my little toe had blood spurting out of me and I had to get acupunctured...thanks to Mantis."

"From what I heard, you'd be doing Mantis a favor." Chronos added.

Arizona took a deep sigh and he looks at the other wolves and he said, "We need something to do tonight. We're given the night off by Master Shifu and I figure that all five of us could go out and do something fun."

"I'm down with that idea." Chronos agreed.

"Same here." Zack added.

"I'm in." Ryo said.

"Me too." Kiba stated.

"I think I might know a few places for a hangout in this village that either me or Zack goes in." Chronos said.

"If it has something to do with us sneaking into a bar, I don't wanna hear about it." Ryo exclaimed.

Chronos groans at that in response and rolled his eyes at Ryo and said, "Aw, come on...you're still ticked about that one bar situation?"

"You almost wanted to punch the crap out of the guy that refused to serve you a drink because you know you're underage." Ryo pointed out.

"That rabbit was lucky I didn't punch his teeth out." Chronos replied, with clenched teeth.

Arizona shuddered at the thought of going to a bar and he knew he was much too young to go out to certain areas like that and he said, "What was that situation all about?"

"Oh, one day, Chronos wanted to get a drink at a bar because it was his 18th birthday, but the bartender refused to serve it due to his age and once he witnessed Po and Monkey drinking and acting like idiots when they're drunk, he somehow got the message and then there was a bar fight that came in and Po peed on Chronos' boots." Ryo explained.

Zack started laughing at that last part and he looked at Chronos, which he had a face full of anger as he glared at Zack, and the bata wolf said, "You never told me about that part."

"You think I wanted to? I'm still waiting for Po to pay me back for soiling his pee on my boots." Chronos growled.

Kiba then looks up at them and said, "Wow...if I was Po in that situation with Ryo..."

Ryo slowly turned his head to Kiba with a low growl and said, "Don't even finish that sentence."

Arizona clears his throat and he said, "Well...we know we can't go out and get wasted because who knows what Shifu would do if he found out?"

The rest of them agreed on that one and Chronos snapped his finger and said, "I got it! Me and Zack always go to that big place in the outskirts of the Valley of Peace where they got this ginormous swimming pool, hot spring tub and best of all...it's all to ourselves. Not to mention...the best dance floor around."

That piqued interest in Arizona, Kiba and Ryo to see what that place would be like and Kiba howled with excitement and exclaimed, "What are we waiting for?"

"Cool it, Kiba. I'll show you guys where it is...so bring in your swim trunks. Luckily for me and Zack, we brought in our own." Chronos added.

"Uh...where?" asked Kiba.

Zack looks over to the white wolfdog hybrid and said, "We're wearing them underneath our pants. Duh!"

Arizona was surprised that these two came in prepared and said, "You two must've gotten yourselves ready."

* * *

30 minutes later...

All five wolves made their way through the outskirts of the Valley and not long after, they finally found the place...'Xi-Wong Box of Fun' and Zack looks at all of them and said, "Welcome to what's known as...our little fun house."

When they came in, Kiba, Arizona and Ryo were completely surprised and in awe on how big it is and how it looks like and Arizona said, "This is incredible. I don't think I've ever seen anything like this."

"Zackie and I come here every single weekend...depending on how much longer both of our shifts at the weapon shop goes." Chronos stated.

"And when the store closes, the fun begins." Zack added.

Soon after, Arizona got on his blue trunks, Kiba wore his orange trunks and Ryo got on his black trunks while Chronos and Zack already got their trunks on and dived into the pool. The three immediately followed suit and just swam around the pool like it was nobody's business. Kiba swam underwater and proceeded to go up, down, around and do some cool tricks and the pop out from the surface.

Ryo took a glance at his swimming skills and scoffed, "Show-off."

Arizona and Zack did a couple of backstrokes around the pool and Chronos only did a frontstroke to compete with the backstrokers and as he got underwater, he saw Kiba swimming underneath and went in to follow him around and as he caught up with him, the white wolfdog noticed that he was coming in and just swam as quickly as he can.

Both stop and thought about playing a little trick on Ryo as they saw him swim a little bit and both of them grabbed ahold of Ryo's ankles and pulled him underwater and got swam away by these two. All three popped out of the surface and Ryo was coughing out water while Kiba and Chronos began laughing hysterically.

"Man, you should've seen the look on your face!" Chronos exclaimed.

Ryo spat some water and just turned to Kiba and Chronos and said, "How do you like this look?"

He released an angry and furious look on his face as he glared at both of them and Chronos said, "Somebody's a little cranky."

"Hey, guys! Check us out!" Arizona exclaimed, as he and Zack did a couple of backstrokes surrounding all three of them.

"Very impressive." Chronos said.

Zack chuckled softly and then, he said, "You haven't seen what we could do yet."

Arizona and Zack dived headfirst underwater with their feet sticking out, doing some awesome tricks that surprised and freaked out most of them and as the two popped their heads out, Kiba and Ryo dropped their jaws and Chronos was speechless at how they actually did.

"Never seen anything like this before." Chronos said, in awe.

"I wanna try it!" Kiba shouted.

Zack looks over and he hears the hot springs tub bubbling up and he said, "Hey, you guys wanna hit up the hot tub?"

"We're in!" all of them exclaimed.

Kiba was the one to come out first and the four saw Kiba's swim trunks floating near them and as they looked at Kiba, Arizona was the first one to say, "Kiba..."

"Yeah?"

Arizona grabs ahold of Kiba's trunks and said, "You kinda forgot something."

Kiba looks down and realizes that his trunks were off and felt completely embarassed about it and as soon as Arizona comes out with his eyes closed, he tells Kiba, "I won't tell anyone about this."

Arizona gives the trunks to Kiba as the white wolf puts them back on and tied the waistline rope tightly and said, "Thanks, Zona."

Arizona then opens his eyes as the other wolves come out of the pool as they made their way to the hot tub and once they got in, all of them felt completely relaxed as they felt the warm water on their fur.

"Now this is what the Jade Palace needs." Kiba stated.

"For once...I actually agree with you on that one. We need something to cool off after a hard day of training and kick back a little." Ryo said.

Chronos chuckled softly at this and he said, "Me and Zack always come here to just relax around the hot tub and let very single stress we have just melt away."

"Actually, you have all the stress. I'm more of a laid-back guy." Zack pointed out.

Arizona took a deep breath as the warm water bubbles up his fur and made him feel like he's in a better space and said, "This is something I would do every single day after training."

"Hey, just come over to our shop and ask us if you want in." Chronos suggested.

"And what about us?" asked Ryo.

"What about you two?" Chronos pointed back.

Ryo laughed sarcastically and said to Chronos, "Very funny."

* * *

35 minutes later...

All five wolves put their regular clothes back on and proceeded to look around the entire place and they heard some music playing from one of the rooms and Chronos knew what that means.

"Hey...are you guys ready for dancing?" asked Chronos.

"I know I am." Zack said, chuckling excitedly.

When the five wolves entered in the dance floor, loads of lights were blinking all over and everyone ws beginning to dance along to some music and Kiba couldn't help but be in awe over this and he said, "Someone pinch me."

Ryo gladly obliged and pinched on Kiba's arm and Kiba turned to him and said, "Dude."

"So this is it, huh?" asked Arizona.

"Yup. The best dance floor in this place amongst all other dance floors in this Valley." Zack replied.

Chronos nodded his head in agreement and he said, "Yeah, it's not everyday that you don't run into some pretty girls."

"Pretty girls?" asked Arizona.

"Yep. Most of them love to see us guys dance." Chronos explained.

"You do realize me and Ryo have girlfriends, right?" asked Arizona.

"Well, yeah...but they don't know that. But you don't have to cause too much attention to them."

Just then, some dubstep music begins playing and Kiba simply could not resist a little dubstep music as he begins dancing along to it and Ryo notices this and he asked, "Kiba, what are you doing?"

"Come on, Ryo...it's a little thing called dubstep. Show me your inner step!" Kiba exclaimed.

Chronos chuckled at this and started dancing along to it as well and Zack joined in when they hit the dance floor and Arizona looked at Ryo for a second and he said, "We might as well."

"Eh, why not?" asked Ryo.

All five wolves began dancing along to the dubstep beat with Kiba leading them on and it definitely generated a humongous crowd and danced along with them and as the strobe lights began blinking, all the wolves' dancing energy intensified more and showed off every move they could possibly do and throughout most of the evening, all five wolves had their night out like they imagined it would be.

* * *

Was that fun or what? Hazards, weigh in on this please! Stick around for more!


	41. Musaki and Kiba's Yoga Session

A little yoga session between Musaki and Kiba in process.

* * *

Musaki and Kiba's Yoga Session

Early in the morning, Musaki was at the Sacred Peach Tree doing his usual yoga session before the morning gong rings and so far, he's feeling really focused and relaxed at the same time as his way of starting off the rest of the day that's gonna be filled with training and saving China at the same time so he has to be well relaxed.

Suddenly, in comes Kiba coming out of nowhere and he saw Musaki doing some yoga and was amazed by how he used that trick it place his foot on his other ankle and stick his arms out and just then, Musaki noticed Kiba standing there in awe.

"Wow...how'd you do that?" asked Kiba.

"Good morning to you too, Kiba." Musaki responded.

Kiba chuckled and gave Musaki a fist-bump and he then said, "What are you doing here, man?"

"Doing yoga."

Kiba was blown away by what Musaki was doing and he asked, "Is this what you do?"

Musaki chuckled and replied, "Every morning."

Kiba nodded his head in understanding and he said, "Think you can teach me a few things? I got nthe meditation down pat, but I would really like to learn yoga from you."

Musaki looked up at Kiba for a second and he replied, "Yeah, why not? We've only got like 45 minutes until the gong rings. Just follow what I do."

Kiba nods his head and Musaki placed his paws on his chest and Kiba did the same and they set their arms apart and rose them high above the sky, then they did some stretching from the left and to the right and in each parts, Kiba falls down on the ground, caressing his buttocks every single time.

Musaki could understand this quickly and he said, "Takes time, I know. You'll get the hang of it."

Kiba quickly got himself up and tries it again, still maintaining to keep his balance straightforward and steady and whatever moves Musaki did, Kiba tries to emulate and goes through it well.

Musaki saw a little progress in Kiba's techniques and is deeply impressed and then, he shows him to combine yoga moves with kung-fu elements with a simple lift to his foot and basic stance.

Once Kiba copied the move, he achieves it super-perfectly and within the next couple of minutes, the two began to break out some moves while doing yoga skills to bring out the inner zen in each other.

Musaki then got down on one knee and spreads his hands far apart and brings them together and Kiba did the same as well and both of them brought it down really well.

"How long have you been doing this?" asked Kiba.

"Since I was about 10 or 11." Musaki replied.

Kiba widened his eyes at that and he responded, "Whoa, really?"

"Uh-huh."

"That sounds awesome."

Soon enough, Kiba got some parts right and it was time for the final part...the meditation. Both of them crossed their legs, closed their eyes, took deep breaths and thought peaceful thoughts to keep them in their zen for the rest of the day.

5 minutes later, they opened their eyes and took a deep exhale and stood up for a second to stretch themselves and Musaki said, "You did really awesome...for your first time."

"Thanks. I guess learning from someone that does it well from an early age helps a lot." Kiba stated.

Musaki chuckled at this and said, "Trust me when I say that my first time didn't start off so easy. It took me until I was 12 to get it done right and I've been doing it well ever since."

"Man, me and Ryo oughta do some yoga." Kiba added.

"Well, who knows? We should head to the training hall because it's only like 5 minutes until the gong sounds." Musaki said.

"Right behind ya."

* * *

How cool was that? Kiba...spotlight's on you! See ya till the next!


	42. Looking at the Clouds

Sometimes we need to take a little time to look at the clouds...

* * *

Looking at the Clouds

One sunny afternoon at the courtyard of the Jade Palace, Max laid down flat on his back as he looked at the clouds rolling by, imagining which cloud is shaped into something that looks familiar to him. For the young white tiger cub, it was something he always loved to do and even at times, doing it with his wolf brother.

Soon enough, in comes Tamaki, Kaizer and Kiba walking past Max and Kiba noticed Max laying on the ground and he asked, "Whatcha doing, little guy?"

"Just looking at the clouds." Max replied.

Kiba looks up at the clouds for a second and then looks down to Max and he asked, "For?"

"I just like to look at them passing by." Max answered.

Just then, Max seeks one cloud that's shaped familiar to him and he said, "Wow...that cloud looks like a dragon."

Kiba looks over and he sees the dragon-shaped cloud floating through the sky and he said, "Whoa...that's epic."

Tamaki and Kaizer went towards Kiba's side and Tamaki even asked, "What's epic?"

"That cloud right there." Max answered.

Tamaki then sees the dragon-shaped cloud pass through and he widened his eyes at this and said, "That's amazing."

"Think we can join ya?" asked Kiba.

"Sure."

Tamaki and Kiba laid flat down on their backs as they watch the clouds float past and Kaizer wasn't really quite sure if this is possible and Kiba looked at Kaizer and said, "You know, you could join in too, Kai."

"Why should I?" asked Kaizer.

Max looks over at Kaizer and replied, "Because it's fun."

Kaizer didn't really have a choice because Max's quick response overshadowed Kaizer's reluctance to join in and he got laid flat on his back and joined both all three of them to look over at the clouds and as they watch them float by, Max immediately spots another one and he said, "Look at that...it looks like a boat."

"Which one?" asked Tamaki.

Max pointed at that one floating by and Tamaki looks up and said, "Whoa...that does look like a boat, doesn't it?"

"I can barely tell the difference." Kaizer remarked.

Kiba then spots something there and he said, "Hey, guys...look at this. Is it me or does that cloud looks like a peach?"

Max looks up around and sees the cloud Kiba was talking about and he said, "I don't see it."

"It's coming up, Maxie."

Just then, Max does sees the cloud that does look like a peach and he said, "I see it now. I wonder how that would taste."

"If we could jump out of the sky and took a bite out of it, we would." Tamaki added.

Kaizer then looks at Max and he asked, "Why do you do this anyway?"

"Me and Arizona always look up at the skies and always look up at the clouds to see them float around, guess which shapes they form in ways we see...and he tells me that his mom and dad are in the sky." Max replied.

"In the sky?" asked Kiba.

"Mm-hmm."

The part about 'in the sky' completely froze Kaizer because he knew what Max was talking about and he suddenly asked, "Do you think my parents are up there?"

Max wasn't really sure to answer that question and Kaizer growled at himself for asking an eight year old a question like that and Max responded, "I don't know."

Kaizer sighed at this and he said, "I'm sorry for asking."

"You don't have to be sorry." Max said.

Tamaki looks up at Max and he said to him, "I don't think I've ever done this before...just laying down and looking up at the skies."

"Yeah, me neither." Kiba agreed.

"Neither do I...but I still don't know what's it's purpose." Kaizer responded.

Max then told Kaizer, "There's no purpose. It's just a way to sit down and look at the clouds passing by...and not worry about anything."

Tamaki could see the little meaning that Max had made and he said, "I get it...just enjoy life, right?"

"Uh...something like that." Max responded.

"Cool." Kiba added.

All four of them continued looking up at the clouds and guessed what the were familiarized by it by the way it's shaped with each passing and just enjoyed each other period and then Max talks about seeing people again in the skies...a subject that draws curiosity to all of them.

"...and even though it seems like it's not possible, Arizona tells me that they'll always watch over us as long as we keep them in our hearts." Max explains.

Kiba could relate with this topic very easily and he said, "After my dad passed away, I always thought he was gone forever and that I would never see him again, but Faith told me that he'll never leave me as long as he's in my heart. That part always seems to stick with me."

"It's different from me, Kiba. I used to believe that when they're gone, they're just gone...and you don't get them back. So...it took me a long time to really let it go and the whole 'staying in your heart' thing...I never really got it until Hope helped me realize that. That bear surprises me." Kaizer added.

"Are you afraid of death, Max?" asked Tamaki.

"A little bit. But I just wish I could stay a kid forever." Max replied.

"Don't we all, Max?" asked Kiba.

Kaizer looks up at Kiba and said, "You probably would."

"Look who's talking."

Tamaki could agree with what Max said and he said, "We all have that same wish, Max. But sometimes you have to grow up a little bit. It may seem scary at times, but the memories of a kid will never go away...so just enjoy being a kid while it lasts because you can only be young once."

"Whatever Tamaki said." Kaizer chimed in.

"I will." Max replied.

* * *

Now isn't that sweet? Hazards, weigh in and stay tuned for more!


	43. If I Had a Wish

We all answer the age-old question...

* * *

If I Had a Wish...

Max was hanging around in Musaki's room with Musaki, Arizona and all of the Hazards as they sit around and just joking amongst themselves and Max began showing them a little move that he taught himself and it blew their minds away, including Kiba's and Faith's.

"That was incredible, Maxie!" Faith said, applauding.

Kiba's reaction was him pumping his fist for Max and said, "You rock, little tiger dude!"

Max chuckled at this and he said, "Thanks...I think."

Ryo then looked over at Kiba over that reaction and he asked, "Was that really needed?"

"Sorry, man. Max's move really got my mind blown all around in all kinds of crazy." Kiba responded.

Ryo took a deep breath on this, but quickly understood Kiba's excitement over Max's move and he said, "Well, you got a good point there. This guy could be a great master...that's if he doesn't kick me in places where he shouldn't kick."

"Sadly, he got that from roughhousing his siblings at home." Musaki responded.

"How many brothers and sisters you've got, Max?" asked Takami.

"30-something."

That completely dropped everyone's jaw after hearing the number of siblings Max has and Tamaki said, "How did your adopted dad give birth to 30 plus siblings?"

Musaki clears his throat and said to Tamaki, "I can answer that...my uncle has 9 kids that are his own and the rest of them are adopted from parts of China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea. He said he'll stop at 50 and then he'll be happy."

"Oh yeah...that's right. You told me that before." Tamaki added.

"But still...that's a lot of kids." Takami stated.

Musaki chuckled at that and he said, "Try having 50 tiger cubs of your own and see what it's like."

Takami chuckled at this, then widened his eyes in response and said, "I wouldn't even have that many...maybe just five or six."

Max then turns to everyone and he asked, "Can I ask you all a question?"

"Yeah, go ahead." Skyler replied.

"Has anyone ever wished for anything in the whole wide world?" asked Max.

Everyone paused for a second after that question and pretty much everyone nodded in agreement that they do have wishes for anything they would want. Max then said, "Wanna hear mine first?"

They all nodded their head in response to that and Max said, "I've been very happy to have a big family and be surrounded by friends that I can trust and turn to. I wish this feeling would never end."

Everyone's heartstrings were definitely pulled after hearing Max's wish and they know that they'll do anything to make it come true...though it already has. Musaki chuckled at this and he said, "That's a good wish, Max."

Max then turns to his panda cousin and he asked, "What would you wish for? Just anything in the world."

Musaki figured that this question would be a little bit difficult, but he knows the number-one wish that he would ever want more than anything. He then said, "For my wish...I would really like to see my parents again. I would give anything to see their faces and to feel their presence again."

That seemed to catch Faith's attention really quickly and she said, "That's a very important wish."

"It's been my wish ever since they died. Like...I would hope for the day that I'd see them again and just tell them I love them and to thank them for giving up their lives for me." Musaki replied.

"That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard." Faith added.

Arizona lets out a deep sigh and he said, "If I wished for anything in the world...it would be that I would live my life in peace and happiness. I really lost that growing up thanks to Dai Ling and that I could spend the remainder of my life with something I never had."

Tamaki was blown away by that wish and he blinked a few times and said, "Very powerful."

"How did Dai Ling take it all away from you?" asked Layla.

Arizona blinked his eyes and knew where this was going and replied, "Killing my dad, taking me in as his prisoner and slave, molesting me and just filling my life with a lot of suffering."

Layla then bit her lower lip in regret and she said, "Sorry I asked."

"Nah, it's fine. I'm over it." Arizona replied.

Takami had his turn and he said, "My wish is that...I would hope to recover from all the memories of being called a 'beast', 'monster' and 'pyro-freak'. It still leaves me torn all these years and even though I'm a master in training, Im still afraid of being judged. So I wish people can see me for who I really am and not for the elemental abilities I have."

"We all have that same wish, T.K. And I hope it comes true." Ryo added.

"So do the rest of us." Skyler said.

Ryo then said, "My wish...is that I can control the power of darkness and that it'll be out of my life for good."

Tamaki had his turn with his wish and he said, "I wish that we could still live in the Valley of Peace for a long time so we can still be closer to Takami."

Faith then has her turn and said, "I wish that I can become the first cheetah to be a kung-fu master."

Next up is Hope and then says, "I wish that me and Faith can be together forever and that me being the Phoenix Warrior would make me feel like I'm a somebody."

Faith puts her paw on Hope's shoulder and said, "You already are a somebody."

That puts a smile on Hope's face and he said, "Thank you."

Layla then has her turn next and told them, "I wish that Takami and I would remain together."

Takami lets out a smile in response and said, "Me too."

Skyler cleared her throat and then said to everyone, "Well...I wish that Ryo could be serious about everything."

Ryo rolled his eyes in response and then said, "I have a bonus wish...that Skyler would stop being such a jerk."

"Maybe if you'd stop acting like a pup, you'd have your wish come true already." Skyler remarked.

Arizona cleared his throat and he motioned his head towards Max, indicating that Max is still in the room and both of them quieted themselves down a little and finally, he said, "Moving on..."

Kiba took a deep breath and he said, "I've got so many wishes that it's hard to even pick one...but I guess if I had one, it would be that I could be that I would just continue training at the Jade Palace so I can improve on weapon mastery."

"That was also my wish too." Ryo stated.

Max looks at Kaizer and he said, "Looks like you're the last one. What would you wish for?"

Kaizer was actually surprised that someone asked him that question, let alone having an eight year old ask it and he said, "No one's ever asked me something like that before. I'm not sure if I should tell anyone about it."

"You have to." Max added.

"We won't judge you, I promise." Arizona said.

It took some time to think about it and Kaizer finally exhaled deeply and he said, "I wish...that I could never go back to being lonely and that I would...forgive myself on the things I've done in the past."

Max was a little curious to know about what Kaizer meant by that and he asked, "What did you do, Kaizer?"

Kaizer blinked his eyes at that and he didn't want to tell Max about it because it would be too young for someone like him to hear and would change what he thought of him and he said, "I can't tell you that, Max. But what I'll say however...is that I've done some bad things that I wished I wouldn't have done...and that I wish I could take them back."

Arizona then nodded his head in understanding and he responded, "That's a big one."

"I wish your wish comes true." Max said, coming close to him.

Kaizer had never shown much affection for most of his life, but when it came to Max...he always knew that the tiger cub would find ways to find it quickly and in response, he whispered, "Me too."

* * *

Hazards...weign in! Stick around for more!


	44. Cubs' Innocence

A little bonding scene between Max and Kaila.

* * *

Cubs' Innocence

Kalia walks past the courtyard and when she got inside, she saw Max sitting on the steps of the training hall and when she sat down next to him, Max looked over and he noticed her sitting there and he said, "Hi."

"Hey, Max." Kalia responded.

Max scratched the back of his neck and he asked, "What brings you here?"

"Just saw you sitting alone and I thought you might need some company." Kalia replied.

"Thanks." Max replied back.

It was a little bit of silence going on there for a second and neither of them knew what they wanted to say to each other and Kalia looks up at Max and she asked, "How'd you end up in the Valley of Peace?"

Max looks at her and he felt like she immediately wanted to know where he came from and that meant that he had to open up about his past and that was something he was always used to never bring it up due to bad memories surrounding his violent and dysfunctional birth parents and he was trying to move on from it and embrace his new life. He then took a deep sigh and replied, "It's a long story."

"I got plenty of time." Kalia said, giving Max a paw on the shoulder for comfort.

Max blinked his eyes a few times and he said, "Okay. My past may become a sad story. When I was a cub...my birth parents were completely like...just bad parents. Both my mom and my dad didn't really love each other and there were always fights...and it involved me. At one point, I saw my dad trying to do something to my mom that I wished I never saw and I just ended up going to my room and placing the covers over my head...but it wasn't the worst of it. My birth dad would take his anger out on me and just beat me constantly and blood came out of my face and he would tie me up to the walls and just harmed me. And after my dad left...I was also my mom's victim. She had molested me when I was four, blaming me for looking like my dad everytime she sees my face and wanted to bring her hurt to me...and what did I even do to deserve this? Next thing I knew, she left me behind with a pack full of wolves who would also molest me, but beat me and threaten to kill me if I try to escape."

Each time Max mentioned the wolves, it sent chills down his tiny spine and it made Kalia cover her mouth in shock for each detail Max gave out. She then asked, "Did you get away?"

"Yeah. It wasn't easy...but I got away after enduring what feels like forever. Most times, I felt like everything that had happened to me was my fault. It was cold one night and I just slept on the ground where there was snow coming down on me...and what happens next? I woke up inside of a room and I didn't know where I was or how I came here. All I remember were a couple of kids picking on me for no reason. That's how I ended up in the orphanage and I spent most of my days staying in that room...until my adopted came to take me home. I was really, really shy because I wasn't sure if they would accept me, but I ended up liking them and I was lucky to finally have a home and a family." Max finished.

Kalia figured that Max went through so many things, but she never thought they were as serious as he explained it to her and she felt completely sorry for him and she said, "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"I was too young to know what was happening and I'm a little scared about what will happen to me when I grow up." Max replied.

"That's rough. I can't imagine having to go through that and still tell about it." Kalia added.

Max sighed heavily and said, "But every now and then, I get nightmares about my birth parents, those wolves and those bullies...like what if they come back for me?"

Kalia didn't want to even think about that and she just went in and gave Max a big hug and she said, "Max...the past is the past. I don't want you to feel that way."

Max didn't know why she was hugging him, but he soon realized that she was concerned for Max and how his past had affected him and just hugged her back. She then said to him, "You're my best friend."

"I am?" asked Max.

She broke off the hug and replied, "Yes, you are. From now on, I'll be here for you."

That really meant a lot to Max and he lets out a smile and said, "You're my best friend too."

Both tigers hugged each other and Max shed a little tear coming out of his eye and thought to himself, 'Thank you, Kaila.'

* * *

You think these two should be friends? Kalia's got Max's back more than ever. Hazards, feel free to weigh in as I continue posting!


	45. Sentimental Value

Musaki shows Kaizer his sentimental value that is the only thing left of his parents. And discuss moments that mean a lot to them.

* * *

Sentimental Value

In the early evening at the Jade Palace, Musaki sat down on the Sacred Peach Tree, playing his flute just as he watches the sun go down, releasing every ounce of feeling he's had and whenever he plays the flute, he feels his parents' presence coming through him and it's always one to make a spiritual connection to and each time he plays it, it's like they can hear him from the sky.

The sound of the flute caught a certain teenage white tiger's attention as he slowly walked up to the Peach Tree to see him play it and it completely captured his heart immediately.

By the second Musaki stopped, he looked up and he saw Kaizer standing there and Musaki said, "Hey, Kaizer."

"Was...was I interrupting something?" asked Kaizer.

"No. Of course not. In fact, I don't mind having an audience to see me play my flute." Musaki replied.

Kaizer sits himself down for a minute and he took a look at Musaki's flute and he asked, "How'd you get this flute?"

"It was a present." Musaki replied.

"From who?"

Musaki lets out a deep sigh when he thought about the time his father gave it to him as a young cub and he replied, "My dad."

Kaizer suddenly froze once he realized that it was given by his dad and never really thought that it was important to him and he asked, "When did he give it to you?"

"When I was a little cub...about 2 years old, I guess. My dad was a heck of a wood carver and he would carve everything he could make; flutes, statues...the whole nine yards. He made this for me for my second birthday and he taught me how to play the flute." Musaki explained.

Kaizer blinked his eyes and seemed very amazed by all of this and he asked, "What happened to your dad?"

Musaki knew this question would come at him and he tried his hardest to not break down in tears when that memory comes back in and he replied, "He died...along with my mom."

Kaizer then felt as if he shouldn't have asked him that question and after hearing that answer, he felt as if that might've hurt him a little and he said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"No...you didn't have to. Just...talking about it makes me feel better at times." Musaki replied.

That sorta rose eyebrows to Kaizer because he knows in tragedy...that it's a very damaging experience and he's been through a lot of stuff in his life that he should never tell anyone because it'll bring back all those scars he'd been keeping for years and he asked, "How? How does it make you feel better?"

"All the sadness you've carried for years lifts you up when you tak about them. To me, I would just focus on being happy rather than spend the rets of my life feeling sad about it. This flute is the memories that I have of my parents and it would always keep it alive." Musaki answered.

Kaizer looks up at Musaki and he said, "That's something Hope would always say to me. The guy always find ways to care about me and just be there like a real friend. He'd never...never judge me or run away from me...no mater how many times I tried to tell him to leave me alone."

"Why's that?" asked Musaki.

Kaizer wasn't really sure to tell Musaki about himself and he said, "I don't wanna tell anyone about my past because of how people would see me...but I wasn't always like this. When I was younger, I used to scare people off because of me, thinking they wouldn't want anything to do with me because I've been called a freak or a monster and it would hurt. So...I built a wall around myself to keep myself from hurting other people. And I was taken in by Tien Kong that taught me to be an assassin. I've done a lot of things that I'm not proud of since then and I felt as if people would fear me. But really...I hated Tien Kong with a passion. Then...one trip to the Valley of Peace on a mission changed everything. This girl Felicity was being mugged and I had to step in and stop them and after that...she was the first person that treated me like a real friend. I didn't know what that would feel like, but it did. As I was sent to the Jade Palace by Tamaki and Chronos, I was put in the dungeon under the palace and Shifu told me that I should either stay with them or send me to prison. I wouldn't have cared less to choose prison life, but Shifu figured that I should fit in well in the palace...so all of us went over to Gongmen City for this competiton or whatever and along the way, I've endured friendships with Faith and Hope...mostly Hope because he treated me like a real friend rather than an enemy. I felt like I didn't deserve it after all I did, but he wouldn't give up on me. After I defeated Tien Kong, I changed my ways and I'm now the Avenger of Peace; willing to fight for the Valley of Peace rather than against it. I had found my sentimental value...the one I've been searching for a long time; real friendship."

After hearing Kaizer's story, Musaki felt surprised knowing that he's been through a lot of stuff in his life and carried a ton of guilt that he's able to redeem himself and become a better person. He said to him, "That takes a lot of courage in what you did."

"I always felt like I was doing the right thing." Kaizer added.

"But you followed your heart. It's a way of saying 'you don't have to live in this world of doom anymore, but to do what is right'. Once you have that common sense, you can do anything to protect the people you care about." Musaki answered.

Kaizer thought about that for a second and he never really grasped into that kind of advice and wished he would've taken it a long time ago and he said, "Wished I would've gotten it from you."

Musaki chuckled at that and he said, "Well, you only get what you got."

Kaizer clears his throat and said, "So...did you ever thought about getting back at the person who killed your parents?"

"Never. I don't hold hatred in my heart. Getting back at them won't bring them back." Musaki added.

Kaizer then tells him, "My parents were dead too. I felt like the world was against me and I just ended up not caring about anything...not even family. Loneliness was all that I was used to...until all this came in. I'm pretty much new to this and I'm worried about screwing it up."

Musaki places his hand on Kaizer's shoulder and he said, "All you have to do is just continue to surround yourself with people who are willing to be there for you and you'll do the same for them."

"I hope you're right." Kaizer added.

Just then, Musaki picks up his flute and begins playing again and this time, made a song up for this occasion.

_Wake up on your own_

_And look around you_

_Cuz you're not alone_

_Release your high hopes_

_And they'll survive_

_Cuz this is the future_

_And you are alive..._

_Dive in_

_and swim away_

_from your loneliness_

_and miserable days_

_And when you wake up_

_on your own_

_Look around you_

_Cuz you're not alone_

_Let your hopes go_

_and they'll survive_

_Cuz this is the future_

_And you are alive_

_You're heading home_

_You're heading home..._

Musaki looks up at Kaizer for a second and he said, "I bet our parents are watching over us now."

Kaizer then nodded his head in agreement and he said, "Yeah, they are...in our hearts."

* * *

Kaizer's got the spotlight on this chapter...so weigh in! Stay tuned for more! And the song is 'This is the Future' from Owl City. On a huge note, thanks a million for the buttload of reviews! My first fanfic in 5 years to have 200 reviews! BOOM-YA!


	46. Sleepover

A little fun moment between Max, Kovu and Borko.

* * *

Sleepover

One evening in the Valley of Peace, Arizona walked towards the village to pick up Max and drop him off at a sleepover at Kovu's house and as he got to Mako's house, he walked across the front porch and knocked on the door, waiting for Max to come out. Suddenly, the door answers and there's Madison standing there and she said, "Hey, Arizona."

"Madison, how ya been?" asked Arizona.

She smiled at him and replied, "Pretty good. Max will be down in just a second. Won't you come in?"

"Yeah, thanks." Arizona replied, before he walked inside the house.

Almost immediately, Mako comes to the kitchen and is surprised to see Arizona there and he said, "Arizona, my boy. How ya doing?"

"Pretty good, sir. You?" asked Arizona.

Mako lets out a smile and he said, "Never been better."

Arizona noticed that Mako's in a good mood and figured that something good has happened and he said, "You seem pretty happy today."

"Oh, yes...Arizona...that's because I have a date tonight." Mako replied.

That seemed to surprise Arizona and he figured that it really is good news and he said, "Oh...nice."

"Yep. There's this woman that I've been working with at the orphanage for sometime and she adores children a lot. She's a single mom and I'm a single dad...so we connected very quickly because we both love kids. We've been together for like a few months now and this date is gonna be extra special." Mako replied.

Arizona chuckled at this and said, "Congratulations."

Cody and Samurai walk downstairs to congratulate their dad on finding a girlfriend and then, brought him his straw hat and a vest to make himself more presentable for the occasion and Cody said, "Looking good, dad."

"Yeah, this woman's gonna spark off mating season in a big way." Samural added.

Cody then glared at Samurai for a second after that remark and he said, "It's a date, not a mating ritual, dude."

Mako clears his throat and told Samurai, "It's just a test to see if she's capable of being my mate. Although...I do feel good about this one."

"We know you will, dad." Cody added.

Samurai then noticed Arizona standing right behind them and he said, "Hey, Zona. Here to pick up Max for this little sleepover?"

"Yeah." Arizona replied.

Just then, Max comes downstairs with his pajamas on and everything and he sees Arizona standing there and he said, "Hey, Arizona."

Arizona looks up and he sees Max standing there and he lets out a chuckle and said, "I can tell you're excited."

"Oh, yeah! I'm very excited for this!" Max exclaimed.

"Yeah, I can tell." Arizona added.

Mako then walks up to Max's level and he said, "Now, you have fun, Maxie. And be on your best behavior."

"Yes, baba." Max added.

"And Arizona will take you back home tomorrow morning...unless you wanna make another run at the Jade Palace." Mako explained.

"Mm-hmm."

Arizona chuckled and said, "No worries. I'll be sure to bring him back safely."

"That's good."

Just then, a certain knock came at the door and Mako immediately knew that it was his date and took a quick look in the mirror to see if he looks good and when it was all clear, he opens up the door and there's a female panda, mid-30's, 6'2, weighs 216 pounds, brown eyes and is wearing a bright green dress along with a straw hat on top of her head. One look and it immediately took Mako's breath away and he said, "Wow..."

"Hello, Mako. Are you ready?" the female panda asked.

"Yes."

Samurai looked up at her and he was amazed by how she looked like in person and he said to his dad, "Sparks are flying already."

She came in the door and Mako said to them, "Everyone, I would like you to meet my date, Reiko. Reiko, these are my sons; Cody, Samurai, Max and their friend Arizona."

"Hello." they all said, in unison.

Reiko lets out a giggle and she said, "Nice to meet you all."

"She looks even more beautiful that what you said." Cody added.

Reiko looks up at Mako and she asked, "These are your kids that you've been talking about?"

"Well, minus Arizona, this is 3 of my 32 children." Mako replied.

"Oh, yeah...you have told me that. I bet it's hard to keep up with them." Reiko added.

"Pretty much."

Minutes later, Arizona and Max made their way to Kovu's place to begin the sleepover and as Arizona knocked on Kovu's door, he looks up to Max and he said, "Be good, all right?"

"I will." Max replied.

Just then, the door opens and in comes Borko answering the door and he said, "Hey, Max. Hey, Arizona."

"Hey, Borko." Max and Arizona said, in unison.

"It's great of you to show up. We're just getting started." Borko added.

"Oh, thanks." Max said.

As Max came in the door, Arizona lets out a smile and said, "Have fun, Maxie."

"I will!" Max exclaimed.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning to pick him up. Hopefully, you guys won't fall asleep by then." Arizona stated.

Borko chuckled at this and he said, "No problem. We're gonna have loads of fun."

"See ya in the morning then."

Minutes later, Max, Borko and Kovu were all around the house just playing superheroes and villains with Borko as the hero and Kovu and Max as the villains as Borko chased both of them around and tagged them where the two cubs were gaining speed on them. Soon enough, they ended up tumbling each other, just laughing all the way.

Later on, all of them had snacks galore; from candies, egg rolls and cookies, these boys ate up a whole lot and Borko ate up so many egg rolls in one sitting and soon enough, they all were on an ice cream consumption rush and combined the egg rolls, cookies and ice cream all together and just ate them up like it was their last meal.

After that, they began telling each other some scary stories and Kovu's telling this one scary story about how he had faced a rhino maniac that defeats all crocodile bandits and leaves their flesh behind and ate his brains; which scared Max, but amazed Borko. Next up, Borko began telling another scary story where he saw a ghost come into the Valley and stopped them from spooking the entire Valley up and finally, Max tells them a story about how he escaped a tigress' angry clutches from the Jade Palace and her favorite thing to eat was innocent little cubs...the part of the story that made Borko a little bit scared.

Soon enough, Kovu brought in some pillows for all three of them to sleep on and just then, he threw one on Borko's head and he looks up at the brown cub and he said, "Two can play at that game."

Borko then grabbed one of his pillows and whacked Kovu in the head with it and with that, both cubs began pillow fighting each other and when both of them hit Max with it, they knew that it's gonna be a three way pillow fight.

Max picks up a pillow and he said, "Pillow fight!"

All three cubs began pillow fighting each other as they were laughing with each other and throwing random pillows at each other...all part of having fun at a sleepover.

Later in the evening, Kovu turns to Max and he asked, "Hey, Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming over to our sleepover. Me and Borko have had a lot of fun having you around." Kovu replied.

Max smiled at this and he said, "Me too. I'm glad I had fun."

"Me most." Borko replied.

"I wish it didn't have to end." Max added.

Kovu smiles at that and he said, "Yeah...me too. Good night, guys."

"Good night." Borko and Max replied, as they all fell straight asleep.

* * *

Was that fun or what? Hazards, weigh in please! Stick around for more!


	47. Protecting Through the Storm

A stormy night would scare any young kid, especially an 8 year old white tiger cub...his first night without his wolf brother would make it more stressful...unless a teenage white tiger brings out his inner big brother persona.

* * *

Protecting Through the Storm

A stormy night at the Jade Palace where there's a massive amount of thunder and lightning coming in and it was as loud as it went and it made it a lot easier to scare someone in the palace.

A certain white tiger cub has been hiding under the covers on the guest mat where Arizona usually sleeps and since he's been gone in a rescue mission, Max really feels scared and alone with the sounds of the thunder booming through the palace and the lightning flashing around so many times that completely terrorized him.

Max started whimpering the minute the thunder crashes and he puts his head over his covers to make it stop, but the thunder exploded much more louder than that and the lightning was so bright that it actually flashed six times as bright, making the cub more frightened than ever.

"Why won't this stop?" asked Max, in a fearful voice.

Just then, he turns around and saw someone standing in front of the door as the lightning striked and he lets out a big scream so loud that it nearly gave the person a heart attack.

He quickly ran out of the room to escape and find Arizona, but he finds himself surrounded by shadows of people that showed themselves while the lightning flashed quickly and that they were all coming out to get him. He tries to get away, but found himself trapped with all of them and all Max could do is get down on a corner and shielded himself in as they were coming close to him.

"No...get away! Please! Leave me alone!" Max said, crying.

Then, a certain hand comes towards Max and then...

The lightning flashed and thunder exploded into a big boom as Max woke up in a big shrilling scream that was super loud that he jumped out of the bed and fell onto someone. He lets out a heavy panting sound and when he turned around...he was screaming again and screamed, "GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU FREAK!"

Apparently, that 'freak' turned out to be Master Tigress, who was none too pleased with being pummeled by Max and she shoves him down and then looks at him and said, "I've heard your screaming twice, Max! Keep it down and go to sleep!"

"I can't. Not with the thunder and lightning." Max said, shaking.

The thunder kept booming and exploding as loud as it can and it made Max whimper in fear and he hopped onto the bed with the covers over his head. He was really, really scared.

As much as Tigress also hates the thunder herself, she didn't think it was best to stay here with Max so she left him behind and went back to her room to get some sleep. Back in the room, Max was still shaking over hearing the thunderstorm sounds and he knew he couldn't stay here any longer...not without his wolf brother to keep him safe.

"I wish you were here, Arizona..." Max said, tearfully.

Another burst of thunder comes out of nowhere and Max couldn't handle sleeping on his own, so he quickly got out of the room and hopes to find someone to keep him safe from the storm and not long after, in comes Kaizer walking by the hallways and he sees Max walking all by himself and he said, "Max?"

Max was startled when someone called his name and when he looked up, it was only Kaizer there and he just hugged at his waist, crying uncontrollably. Kaizer wasn't sure what to do with this and he looked down and asked, "Are you okay?"

"No...I'm scared." Max replied.

"Scared of what?"

The thunder and lightning showed itself and popped out twice as hard and Max was whimpering and said, "That."

Kaizer didn't know what he was gonna do, but then...he remembered something that Arizona told him before he was gonna leave.

_'It might be a stormy night and Max hates to sleep during a thunderstorm. He's really, really scared of it...so can I count on you to let him stay with you in your room until the storm goes away? Like, make it a little bit easier for him?'_

Kaizer then realized that he was gonna fill in for Arizona while he was gone and he looked up at Max, who was still crying and he said, "Why don't you come in my room?"

Max slowly nodded his head and the two tigers made their way to Kaizer's room and as they got there, Max was really missing Arizona really bad. And the thunder and lightning didn't really help much to ease him down as he quickly hid over the corners. Kaizer then went over to Max and he said, "Max...don't be scared."

Max was then crying and he said, "I...miss...Arizona!"

Kaizer didn't really know how scared Max was until he told him that he misses Arizona and figures that he would be here instead because he missed his wolf brother a lot. Kaizer then said, "I'm here too."

Max looks up at Kaizer with tears running down his face and Kaizer told him, "Don't be afraid, little guy. I'm here for you...not because I was asked to do, but what I want to do for you. Can you trust me?"

Max then hugs him deeply and Kaizer melted into the hug and he does remind him a little bit of himself as a young cub and Max sniffled a few times and said, "Yes."

Kaizer then gets in his bed and Max lays down on his side and it actually made Max feel a little better, knowing that someone's here to keep him safe and Max said, "Thank you..."

Kaizer pats Max gently on his head and he said, "Arizona will be back home before you know it. I promise."

"I'm sorry I made you worried." Max said, softly.

"It's okay. Good night, Max."

"Good night."

Kaizer then falls fast asleep with Max and soon enough, Max whispered, "Good night, Arizona."

Max then closed his eyes and fell fast asleep and throughout that night, Max definitely felt like he was safe and sound with Kaizer...and both of them were unaware that Arizona was standing at Kaizer's door just watching them and he whispered softly, "Good night, Max."

* * *

Was that sweet or what? Kaizer, feel free to speak your mind. Stay tuned for more!


	48. Big Brother Advice

This is a continuation of the previous one-shot where Arizona gives Kaizer some advice about being a big brother.

* * *

Big Brother Advice

By the next morning after the storm, Kaizer slowly groans from his sleep and turns to the side as he slowly opens his eyes and he lets out a small yawn and scratched the back of his neck before sitting up and then he froze after he realized that Max was still asleep, laying by his waist. He looks down and he lets out a small smile and sets him down on his mat and just slowly patted his head.

He never thought that much about being a big brother to Max and never realized it was this much bigger, but after that stormy night...it made him re-think about his reluctance on being a brother to him and he whispered, "Sleep tight, Max."

He slowly then gets himself up and walks out of the room and into the hallway on his way to get some air and suddenly, he sees Arizona walking by and he said, "Hey, you're back."

Arizona nods his head and replied, "Got back late last night. My rescue mission ended a little earlier than I originally thought. Was supposed to be there for like two days or so, but after I captured that vigilante and saved a bunch of random people so quickly...it was like 'Back to the Jade Palace' and to see Max. But as I got back, I kinda realized that there was this big storm and I knew for a fact that Max is super afraid of thunderstorms."

"I could tell from his screaming." Kaizer added.

Arizona blinked a few times and breathes deeply and said, "Anyway, I got back to the barracks to find Max...and once I found him, I can tell that he was already safe with you around."

Kaizer tried to find a simple way to make an excuse for it, but the look in Arizona's eyes immediately stopped him from doing so and Kaizer just lets out a deep sigh and he said, "Well, the little guy was...really scared. I just didn't know why he'd be that scared."

"Like I said, Max hates thunderstorms. I remember that when he first spent the night at the Jade Palace last year, there was this huge storm that felt like it could go on forever and Max was really, really afraid to fall asleep that night and the minute I heard him scream, I thought something was coming to attack us, but as it turns out...I saw Max huddled up in the corner, shaking so quickly everytime the thunder booms." Arizona explained.

Hearing that made Kaizer widen his eyes a lot and he asked, "Did you know?"

"The sounds of the thunder explained it all. That was my first realization that he's afraid of thunderstorms." Arizona added.

"So...what did you do?" asked Kaizer.

"I asked him if he would sleep on my bed, you know...make it a little easier for him so he wouldn't have to sleep alone during a storm. The first time was a little difficult, but I was willing to make sure that I would never leave him alone. Once he laid on my chest, he felt like he was already safe and he trusted me that I'd stay with him no matter what...and it's been that way ever since." Arizona added.

Kaizer was definitely speechless and he had no idea how to react or say anything after hearing this and he just lets out a deep sigh and he said, "I've...never really known that you guys had this..."

"Special bond? It's the brotherhood. I had already knew that I'd trust you with him while I was gone...even though I was only gone for like...a day or two." Arizona added.

"He really missed you a lot." Kaizer stated.

That surprised him the most and he had no idea Max would miss him a whole lot and he asked, "Really?"

"Completely. I was really nervous about how to calm him down. I just...I just didn't know what to do." Kaizer admitted.

Arizona blinked his eyes in response and he could see that Kaizer was new to this big brother thing and that it would take a little time to get used to it and he told him, "You did what you had to do...you made sure Max was okay and you assured him that you were never gonna leave him alone."

Kaizer figured that whatever he said completely made sense and he blinked his eyes a few times and thought about this over and then, he realized that what he had done was a success and that he made sure Max was completely safe and secure. He turns back to Arizona and he said, "I guess you're right. When I heard him crying, I...I...it really hit me."

"I gotta admit, you really did do a good job last night with Max. I knew you I could trust you with him." Arizona stated.

"It's like...he's the little brother I never had before. I just wanna make this brother thing just right." Kaizer said.

"After last night...you already did. What makes a big brother is not what you do or how it's done. It just means that you have to protect him and do everything you can to make sure that he'll never be alone. Once you do that, anything is possible. All it takes it love, courage, selflessness and a big heart to match it up. And if anything, you would do anything to keep the ones you care about safe and happy so that he'll always be loved." Arizona explains.

That really got to Kaizer and those words really struck him deep in the heart and realizing that he spent his years all alone...he had never experienced it before. He lets out a deep sigh and he said, "I guess I might've done something right."

"And you will continue to do so. As well as learning more about yourself what it means to you...as a person." Arizona stated.

Arizona walks out to Kaizer's room to see his little tiger brother and Max was still asleep and the grey wolf slowly walks up to his side and gently wakes him up. The minute Max opens his eyes and sees his wolf brother, he immediatly leaps out and lands on Arizona's chest, hugging him tightly.

Arizona chuckled softly and said, "Hey, Maxie."

Max looks up at him and he said, "You're back."

Arizona smiled a little and he said, "I've only been gone for two days, buddy."

"It feels like forever. Never leave me again, Arizona." Max added, tearfully.

Arizona could see a few streaks of tears coming from Max's eyes and he said, "Why are you crying?"

"I...I just missed you." Max replied.

That was a good enough answer for Arizona to hear and resumed hugging him tightly and he said, "Don't worry...I won't leave you again. I promise."

Kaizer was standing there watching the whole thing and he was on a state of true emotion over this and suddenly, Max looks up at Kaizer and whispered, "Thank you."

Kaizer nods his head...this time with a smile on his face.

'So this is what it means like to be a big brother. I wish I could have that same thing.' Kaizer thought.

* * *

Heartwarming, huh? Kaizer's getting a little choked up, I see. tell us what you think. We've got more coming up!


	49. Omega Brotherhood

Arizona and Ryo are like best buds...though both of them are Omegas and they do relate to each other a little bit.

* * *

Omega Brotherhood

Early in the evening hours at the Peach Tree, Arizona and Ryo were sitting down underneath and as Ryo eats a load of peach trees, Arizona was surprised by the fact that Ryo was eating so much peaches, it's like he can barely contain himself.

"You must really like peaches." Arizona said, with a chuckle.

Ryo looks up at him, while he was chewing the peaches and replied with his mouth full, "Trust me...they're like the best things in the world. I could never get enough of them."

"Or you just like to eat."

Ryo swallowed them up and he turns to Arizona and he said, "Skyler said I have a black hole when it comes to eating...but what does she know? I think she doesn't want me to end up like the Dragon Warrior's weight. I don't see any difference."

"I bet." Arizona added.

Arizona then looks up at Ryo and he then tells him, "Hey, Ryo...this might sound like a stupid question, but what made you hate Alpha's?"

Ryo figured that this was something that he would answer very easily at that and knowing his experience with Alpha's, it was better than to let out a few secrets about that particular issue. He then turned to Arizona and replied, "Because Alpha's think that they're better than us and act like they're running the joint like the lead wolf of the pack. When it comes to us Omegas, we feel like we're outsiders like we consider ourselves unworthy and not capable of anything. We're sorta like...vulnerable in our ways and that the Alpha's take over everything and makes us Omegas ridiculed for no reason."

Arizona knew that Ryo knew a lot about in by experience and he said, "When did it start for you?"

"Oh, it started years ago back when me, Takami and Skyler were at the orphanage. There was this kid named Markus and he was being really friendly with both T.K. and Sky and I figured that he'd be my friend too. Boy, was I wrong. Towards me, he was mean, vile and manipulating...he wanted to turn my friends against me for no reason and that's where the Alpha bravado kicks in. I was determined to not lose my friend to that jerk and I would've fought him. Once Takami learned that he was planning to mess up my friendship with him and Skyler, T.K. made a solid choice that I'm his one best friend. Skyler pretty much knew about the whole Alpha/Omega situation and after this, Markus was sent out of the orphanage and into the juvenile detention facility for 10 years. He's out of my life now...but the hatred with Alphas officially began. Well...that's until Kiba came into my life and...he gets on my nerves a lot, but he's the only Alpha that I have for a friend that also has elemental powers." Ryo explained.

Arizona's eyes were widened at this and he said, "Man, that's rough. My hatred for Alphas began when I was still trapped in Dai Ling's tower. I always get picked on by Dai Ling's stupid Alpha comrades and they treated me like I was their freaking slave. I had to do everything they said...even things that should never be mentioned but would be forgotten and I would always be called 'Omega loser' or 'grey outsider'. And the worst...most of the Alpha's really molested me. That's how the hatred began. Months ago, I was on a boat ride and we took a stop to get a chance to rest up...where I ran into Shamus, this Alpha wolf that assumed that I was stepping onto his property. First of all, I didn't even know it was his property and secondly, I had my butt kicked by them. It was because of them that I took my anger out on Max...which I still regretted doing and on the way back, they came back to torture Max and I kicked his butt along with his snotty-nosed pack. When you mess with an Omega wolf...you get messed up bad."

Ryo whistled in response and he said, "I think we Omegas need to stick together."

"Absolutely."

Ryo sighed heavily at this and he said to Arizona, "Hey...Zona. You're like the one Omega that I've met and I feel like...I can relate to you so easily. You ever think that we were like...you know."

"Brothers?" asked Arizona.

Ryo turned to him and replied, "Yeah. Only we're kinda the same age."

Arizona chuckled at this and said, "Yeah, I'm already 18 and you're like...17."

"I'll be 18 in a few months." Ryo stated.

"We should like...party together. You know...when your 18th birthday comes, we should totally celebrate it." Arizona suggested.

Ryo completely liked that idea and he said, "Yep. I'm pretty much the life of every party."

"Oh, please!"

Ryo then knew that Skyler was coming by as she made her way to the Tree to find both Arizona and Ryo sitting there and she said, "The only life you have for the party is eating everything possible."

"Well, at least I don't pretty up." Ryo barked.

Arizona could see this is gonna be another one of those arguments they're gonna have, so he quietly stood up and muttered, "And with that...I'm out."

* * *

I'm thinking Ryo's gonna take the spotlight with Skyler. Had it end this chapter somehow...so, stick around for more!


	50. Words from an Alpha

Another bonding session with Arizona and Kiba. And Kiba drops some knowledge about how he's different from Alpha wolves in hopes that Arizona can trust him.

* * *

Words from an Alpha

Arizona walks towards the barracks to make his way back to his room to have a few minutes to himself and as he came in the room, he sits down on his mat and lays flat on his back, taking a very deep sigh of relief after a full afternoon of rigorous training and felt like he does deserve a break. Just then, he sees Kiba walking past his room and suddenly, the white wolf makes his way inside the room to see Arizona.

"Hey, Arizona. How goes?" asked Kiba.

Arizona turns over and looks at Kiba in the eye and replied, "Really exhausted."

Kiba then sits down on the floor next to Arizona's bedside and he then told him, "You...wanna hang out with me?"

Arizona blinked his eyes twice after hearing what Kiba had to say and he asked, "You hang with me?"

"Yeah. It'd be really cool if you were to hang out with an Alpha for a day and see that I'm not like the others." Kiba explains.

Arizona had no idea what to make of Kiba when he first met him at Mr. Ping's, regarding his dislike for Alpha's...but as time progressed, Arizona has gotten used to having one Alpha wolf for a friend and they do get along really well. He then responded, "Yeah, sure."

Later on, the two headed outside to the courtyard to just sit and talk since there's not really much to do anyway and as they sat down on the steps of the training hall, Kiba looks up at Arizona for a second and he said, "You wanna know why I'm not like other Alpha's?"

"Sure." Arizona responded.

Kiba clears his throat and explains, "Well...there are a few things about me that you may not know...and it may be surprising for you to hear. Throughout most of my life, I'm somewhat of a genius when it comes to weapon mastering. My IQ's like a 200 and it runs in my family a lot; my older brother and my dad. As awesome as it is, it's kinda hard for me to be a normal kid and do normal stuff. After my dad passed away, I would hope to gain enough knowledge to be a weapon master in my own right."

That was a lot surprising to Arizona to actually hear something coming from Kiba that he never really thought about before. He then asked, "Really? I had no idea."

"Yep. Being a normal kid is just a little phase I'm in right now. But that's not what I was gonna say. What I was gonna say is that I'm not all that bravado and machismo like all Alpha's do. I don't put down other wolves because we're all the same. Whether you're an Alpha, an Omega, a Bata or a Timberwolf...we're all wolves. There should not be a divide between different kinds." Kiba added.

"You think so?"

"I know so. I just wish one day we could all come together and unite as one." Kiba said.

Arizona chuckled softly at that and he said, "That's actually pretty cool."

"Exactly. You see, most Alphas are jerks, but I'm the complete opposite. I'm cool, funny, happy, carefree...a little laid-back at times. I bet that drives anyone crazy." Kiba stated.

"Well...not me. Musaki has always told me to give people chances before you make your judgment." Arizona said.

"Sounds like a cool dude."

Arizona nods his head and he said, "I could learn a lot from him...even after he saved my life."

Kiba smiles at that and he then switches up with another topic; Arizona's tiger brother. He lets out a deep sigh and said, "So...how old is Max?"

"He's eight, almost nine." Arizona answered.

Arizona widened his eyes at that and he said, "Sounds like he's gonna turn into a big cub, huh?"

Arizona chuckled softly and said, "He wants to try to do a few things most of us can do and that pretty much happens a little too often. One time, he tried to wear some of Po's pants to make himself more grown-up...but he was a little too small to make them fit."

Kiba began laughing at this and he said, "Oh man...that's funny."

"Yeah...but he's at that stage where he wants to do things that older kids do, just to feel like he's a big as anyone else. I could understand that he's sick of being little and I told him, 'Someday, you'll get your turn. You just have to be patient.'" Arizona stated.

"The little dude's awesome." Kiba stated.

"Yeah, he is. Quite strong for his age too." Arizona added.

Kiba clears his throat and he asked, "Think he'll handle two wolf brothers to take him on when we train?"

"I guess. You could be my second-in command wolf brother for Max...or fill in for him when I'm not around. He's kinda used to me, you and Ryo whenever he's here." Arizona added.

"Cool. So...are we buds?"

Kiba holds out his fist in hopes on getting a fist-bump from Arizona and whithout hesitation, Arizona quickly obliged to it and bumps Kiba's fist as a sign that they're really best buds.

* * *

Now they're best buds. Kiba, here's the spotlight! Stick around for more!


	51. The Dealio

Tamaki gets to the bottom of why Tigress has always had a problem with Max. Though he's not starting out as one, she's her own problem because she doesn't know how to handle kids well.

* * *

The Dealio

Sometime in the Jade Palace, Tamaki walks around parts of the barracks, a little bit concerned about situations between Max and Tigress and often times...felt like she has a strong dislike for kids and wanted to know what's up with that and he sees Monkey and Mantis walk past him and Monkey stops for a second and he said, "Hey, Tamaki."

Tamaki looks down and replied, "Hey, guys."

"You okay?" asked Mantis.

Tamaki clears his throat and he looked at both of them and asked, "Can I ask you guys something?"

"Sure." Monkey replied.

Tamaki then followed them to his room and sat down for a second and he asked, "Is it me...or do I sense the fact that Tigress doesn't like Max?"

Monkey and Mantis didn't know how to respond to that particular question and they both looked at each other and Mantis was the first one to say, "Tigress and kids...they don't really mix. I mean, she does like children, but not too much."

"Why do you ask?" asked Monkey.

Tamaki sighed deeply and replied, "I don't know. I might've witnessed a few blow-ups from Tigress directed at Max and she loses her temper towards him and I don't know why."

Monkey then answered, "Tigress has been training Max on self-defense for quite a while and he's been a little bit nervous on how do defend himself because he assumed that there would be fighting intent...but self-defense isn't really about that at all. It's just a way to defend yourself so you wouldn't be faced with a huge confrontation. Anyways, Max did pretty well and then...Tigress had him do some advanced training and the advanced ones...they're a little hard on Max. He'd mess up a few times, but Tigress would lose her patience with him if he messes up three or four times and on the fifth or sixth, she'd take it out on him and just lose it. And even when they weren't training or if Max makes an accident, Tigress makes a big fuss over it and just yell at him nonstop."

"Man, that's mean." Tamaki answered.

"Max even told us that she's like a bully with black stripes. We can kinda admit that she's a bully, but we can't really say it to her face." Mantis added.

"But the thing is...she doesn't know what to do with children or how to handle them." Monkey added.

Tamaki felt like he needs to get to the bottom of this and get a few answers out to Tigress, so he gets up from his room and makes his way to Tigress' room and as he knocks on her door, he wans't sure how she would react if he mentions Max to her.

When the door does open, Tigress looks at Tamaki and asked, "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to ask you something." Tamaki answered.

"Like what?"

Tamaki clears his throat and just looked her in the eye and asked, "Why do you hate Max?"

That question didn't seem to rub Tigress the right way and she had no idea how Tamaki knew about a few blow-ups between her and Max and she asked, "What makes you think I hate him?"

"Well...I've seen you yell at him and stuff...make little threats to him..." Tamaki said, but soon got cut off by Tigress.

"Why would I threaten an eight year old's life?" asked Tigress.

Tamaki knew that this was gonna be tension filled and he took a deep breath and said, "Are you a bully to Max?"

She froze in response for a second because she didn't think Tamaki would make that little assumption like that and she replied, "Who told you?"

"Monkey and Mantis. They said you're a bully to the other masters here...or so I thought. But mostly to Max." Tamaki answered.

"What did I do to make Max feel bad?" asked Tigress.

"You yell at him, lose your patience with him and even when he makes a little accident, you get really mad and start to scare him with your temper...like you really meant to hurt him bad." Tamaki answered.

It then hit her...she didn't seem to realize that her way of dealing with any situation she had with Max would result in losing her temper and she already figured out why he was scared of her or to come near her...is because she'll lose her cool and just result in bringing in plentiful amount of harm to him. She then lets out a deep sigh and responded, "Was I really that bad?"

"Yeah." Tamaki responded.

She lowered her head down in shame after reminiscing all the times that Max had left the training hall crying after a bunch of arguments and fights between them...even though Max has apologized to her several times for his mistakes, but she didn't take time to hear it. She then said, "I am a monster."

"No, you're not. We all have bad days." Tamaki added.

"You don't get it. The reason why I don't want to be around kids is that if I get angry and lose my temper, I could accidently hurt them deeply and I don't want to do that, so I had to keep my distance from them...and that doesn't always work because they're not the problem. It's just me. I don't wanna come off as a mean person and end up being the same way as I am." Tigress explained.

Tamaki didn't know how to respond and he said, "Have you been a mean person?"

"I didn't intend to. It's not like I wanted to be mean on purpose. It's just...the way I am." Tigress answered.

"But you don't have to be one to prove you're tough and strong. The thing is you just try too hard and that's enough to lose a few people you care about. All you have to do is relax and go with the flow instead of making everyone do things your way and try to build relationships with people instead of shutting them down. Just take it from me." Tamaki explains.

Tigress could really get what Tamaki's saying that if she continues to treat others the way she's been doing that she'll lose what's important to them and that would be her biggest fear. She then asked, "What do I have to do?"

"Just make it right. Apologize to Max and see if he'll accept it. And promise yourself that you'll work on making that progress on how to let people in instead of shutting them out. It's not how you deal with your problems because it'll hurt you more. It's not gonna be easy because life has challenges, but you have to face them head-on." Tamaki added.

"It sounds like something Master Shifu would say." Tigress said.

Tamaki smiled in response and said, "I learn wisdom well on my own."

"I'll try my best."

"That's good enough for me."

* * *

All righty, then. Hazards, wanna weigh in? Stick around for the new chapter!


	52. Gross Out Memories

Thought I'd bring in the humor to the coolest...and weirdest extent. But enough to make a big laugh about it.

* * *

Gross-Out Memories

One evening at the Peach Tree, Musaki, Arizona, Takami, Ryo, Kiba, Hope, Chronos, Tamaki and Zack hung around, just talking and laughing amongst themselves while eating some peaches and they saw how many peaches Ryo ate in one sitting.

"Ryo...are you trying to empty the Peach Tree?" asked Takami.

Ryo was still eating the peaches and replied with his mouth full, "No."

On that note, Takami turned to Musaki and he asked, "Hey, Saki...do you have any memories that seemed...a little weird?"

Musaki froze and pondered on that thought for a second and he replied, "Well...there was one weird moment and it was severely gross. So, one time I was on my way to the bathroom, right? I just thought I had come in to take a bath and the next thing I knew...I saw a line of puke on there and I slipped and fell onto it. Come to find out that it was Po's puke."

"Eww..." everyone replied.

"Did you puke too?" asked Kiba.

Musaki lets out a deep sigh and rolled his eyes and replied, "Sadly, yes."

"I knew it!" Kiba exclaimed.

Ryo scoffs in response to that and he said, "Don't say you knew you saw it coming."

"No, I meant that this was way funnier than my gross-out memory. One time, I was sleepwalking and I guess I was so tired...that I had walked into Ryo's room and mistakenly thought that it was the bathroom and I peed all over Ryo." Kiba replied.

Ryo turns around and he lets out a growl and replied, "Dude...I was about to hunt you down after you did that. That was really disgusting."

"I'm sorry, man. I was just so exhausted...and I guess my bladder was pretty full." Kiba added.

Hope clears his throat and he said, "Well, at least your gross-out moment didn't hold a candle to mine. I was 11 years old and I was waiting for my wolf dad to come out of the bathroom because I had to use it bad. It felt like it took hours and I really couldn't hold it in and by the time he was almost finished...I peed my pants...and on top of that, dumped myself."

"That is gross." Ryo said, in disgust.

"You held that in for how long?" asked Arizona.

"Close to an hour." Hope replied.

Arizona sighed at this and he said, "I don't think I have a gross-out moment...at least not yet anyway."

"But...I kinda do." Takami said, raising his hand.

"Tell us, Kami." Tamaki added.

Takami glared at Tamaki in response and he said, "Anyways...when I was 12, Ryo told me this joke he made while I was eating some noodles and it was really funny. But I was laughing really, really hard and a little piece of noodle came out of my nose."

Ryo started laughing hysterically at this and he said, "That was actually a lot funnier than my joke."

Tamaki started laughing at this too until Takami took a deep, angry glare at him and he stops quickly and then clears his throat, saying, "That is just plain disgusting."

Tamaki lets out a quiet snicker, still thinking it was pretty funny.

Chronos cleared his throat and he said, "Me and Zack have a two-fer gross-out moment together where we had like an ice cream contest we had made. Whoemever eats the most ice cream wins without brain freeze."

"But suddenly...we ate like so much ice cream that we couldn't even eat another bite. And then...we just puked it all out." Zack finished off.

"Gross! You guys puked?" asked Ryo.

"Yeah, we did. Like three times." Chronos added.

Ryo was very surprised on what his brothers did when he wasn't around and he said, "Maybe I should keep an eye on both of you guys."

Zack then pointed his finger at Ryo and he said, "But we're not the only ones that had a gross-out moment."

Ryo figured that he was gonna tell his gross-out moment and he said, "Well...it's kinda grosser than that. I snuck around Skyler's room one day, right? I lost a bet to Hope that I was gonna try on some of Skyler's clothes after an arm wrestling match."

"Should I even ask which clothing you wore?" asked Takami.

Ryo then went to Takami's ear and whispered, "Her underwear."

Takami's reaction was frozen and he felt as if maybe he shouldn't have asked and he said, "Gross."

"Not getting into the gross part yet. Turns out that they were a lot smaller when I tried her undies on and I felt like it was suffocating...until I accidently peed on it." Ryo finished.

"You peed on Skyler's underwear?" asked Hope.

"Yeah...but don't tell her I said that though because she's gonna go nuts on me if she knew." Ryo replied.

"Too late."

Ryo then startled as he turned around and saw a very ticked off Skyler standing behind him, listening to his every word and Arizona said, "Busted..."

* * *

Ryo...you've got some 'splaining to do! Hazards, weigh in on this...and Ryo, I'd run right now. Stick around for more awesomeness!


	53. Sparring with Ryo and Kiba

Arizona spars with Ryo and Kiba, but Arizona sees how these two could barely focus on sparring with Arizona and at the end...well, just watch.

* * *

Sparring with Kiba and Ryo

Arizona was looking forward to sparring with Kiba and Ryo when they were in the training hall and the three of them were looking at each other in the eyes as they started to strike. Ryo went in first to spar with Arizona as he leaped up from the ground and punched him down while Arizona dodged his punches and sparring moves and then Arizona goes around and kicks him in the nose.

Kiba went ahead and flipped Arizona across the opposite way, but Arizona stopped in his tracks and grabs Kiba instead and slammed him to the wall and kicked him straight in the shin. Ryo smirked at this and he said, "My turn."

Ryo then shoved Arizona down to the ground and the two had a little bit of a tumble-pin around and as Ryo began to kick him out, Kiba mistakenly stomps on Ryo's tail, letting out a big howl and Kiba realized his mistake and said, "Sorry."

That set Ryo off immediately and he said, "Dude...watch where you're stepping!"

"I thought you were Arizona!" Kiba explained.

"Do I look like a grey wolf to you?!" Ryo shouted.

Arizona quickly got in the middle of this to end this arguing and he said, "Not what we set out here to do, guys! Can we finish sparring each other?"

Both wolves then cleared their throats and Ryo said, "Sorry."

"Our bad." Kiba added.

After that, Arizona took his basic stance and Ryo followed suit along with Kiba and Arizona motioned them to come forward and Kiba thought he should go first, but Ryo thought he meant he should go first and both of them fought on who gets to go first, which got on Arizona's nerves a little bit and he just decided to just spar with both of them.

He charges on both of them and pummels them down as hard as they could and Ryo then went ahead and did a backflip and kicks on Arizona's back while Ryo kicks the front and within a few minutes, both wolves were fighting Arizona...but Arizona had the last fight as he kicks both of them in the head, shin and back all at the same time.

Kiba leaped forward and shouted, "Rock and roll, dude!"

Ryo groans at this and asked, "Really?"

"Focus!" Arizona shouted.

Ryo then ran towards parts of the training hall, leaps upward, grabs onto the swinging clubs and does a corkscrew move to kick Arizona, but the grey wolf ducked down and instead...Ryo runs himself into a wall and Kiba winces at that, saying, "That's gotta hurt."

Ryo gets himself up, dusted himself off and goes off and continues to spar with Arizona and Kiba sparred with him also as the three wolves went ahead and sparred each other...up until Arizona brings in a new move to blow them away.

Arizona leaps up to the air and stands on the roof of the training hall and then, he did a backflip where he puts his hands and feet around the wood railing, swing his entire body around and then does a super corkscrew move and slams down both Ryo and Kiba, where both of them landed on the walls.

Both wolves finished off with a simple punch, kick and shove down to Arizona, but Arizona wasn't finished with them as he kicks both of them in the jaw.

All three of them looked at each other and Ryo was the first one to say, "Impressive."

"Best work ever, dude." Kiba stated.

Arizona dusted himself off and said, "Well...at least you guys have great skills despite your immaturity."

"Immature? Kiba's the immature one." Ryo stated.

"Aw, lighten up, Ryo." Kiba added.

"Lighten up? I'll lighten up when I stick my foot under your..." Ryo said, but got cut off quickly by Arizona.

Arizona clears his throat at this and he said, "Both of you are the immature ones while we were all fighting. And that doesn't even help."

"What are you saying exactly?" asked Kiba.

* * *

4 minutes later...

Ryo and Kiba were tied up in the swinging clubs and both of them tried to set themselves free after Arizona tied them up due to their stupidity arguments during sparring and Ryo said, "You had to ask, didn't you?"

"This is embarassing enough for me as it is for you." Kiba pointed out.

Ryo knew that Kiba was right...with the fact that both of them are in their underwear while they were tied up and Ryo said, "We need to get out of this so we can get our pants back."

Kiba then felt something coming loose and he said, "Ryo...my undies are slipping, man."

Ryo then figured out that his underwear was coming down the same way and said, "Not again."

"We need to stop wriggling ourselves because they'll slip off." Kiba said, in an embarassed tone.

Ryo and Kiba were struggling to get themselves off because they felt the tightness of the rope coming in and Ryo said, "Man...I can feel my butt cheeks touching metal again."

"So do I. The last thing I would want is for someone to see us like this." Kiba stated.

"I know."

Both wolves kept wriggling themselves twice as hard as they could get until...they felt their underwear slipping down to their ankles and Kiba was the first one to notice and said, "Ryo?"

"Yeah?"

"Look down at our feet."

Ryo slowly looks down and sees that his underwear was going to his feet and gasped silently and that was enough for both pairs to go down to the ground and both of them were whimpering in embarassment that they're tied up naked.

"Maybe no one will notice." Kiba stated.

Ryo groans in response and said, "I'm having a bad day..."

* * *

Well, you had to know what was up. Hazards, weigh in on this! Got more heading your way!


	54. A Girl's Anthem

This one shot was inspired by SpiritualLoneWolf's one-shot, 'Take a Hint', so I hope this is enjoyable!

* * *

A Girls' Anthem

It was just a normal day at the Valley of Peace where Faith and Skyler were just walking around the village to get some fresh air, nothing out of the ordinary. Skyler began telling Faith this story about hearing Ryo fart in his sleep numerous times and that grossed out Faith a little, but did find it hilarious though.

Just then, they seek two random guys; one who's a coyote, 18 years of age and wears a raggedy silk blue vest and ripped shorts and another one who's a wolf; 19 years of age and only wears shorts, but has his face and body pierced and a messy and spiky mohawk around his heads; that were staring at both of them and they wanted to gain their attention.

The coyote went after Skyler while the wolf went after Faith and as they got in front of them, the coyote asked, "What's a fine fox like you doing in a place like this?"

"Uh...not focusing on you." Skyler replied.

The wolf then takes a glance at Faith and he couldn't resist looking straight into her face and said, "Hey there, good looking. Wanna be my cheetah girl?"

Faith rolled her eyes at the wolf and she replied, "No, thanks. I already have a boyfriend."

"A boyfriend? Come on now, baby...your boyfriend would never know about us." the wolf said, when he attempts to place his hands on her.

Faith then stomps his foot, resulting a yelp coming from him...but even that didn't deter him and he said, "I like them feisty."

"Why don't you guys get lost?" asked Skyler.

The coyote then told her, "You and me are gonna be howling at the full moon tonight and then...spend the night at my place."

"I wouldn't even go to your place even if I was dead." Skyler retorted.

The wolf didn't seem to take rejection well and wants to go up and beyond Faith's reluctance and he said, "I've got a full body of tattoos. Wanna touch them?"

"Ew...no." Faith replied, in a disgusting tone.

He then placed himself in front of her and said, "Put your paws on my body..."

"Yeah, what's it gonna take for you girls to give us some action?" the coyote then asked.

Soon enough, both girls saw a stage near them and they decided to throw out the best idea ever and Faith said, "Who needs action when we can say them to you?"

Not long after, Faith and Skyler went across the stage as they sung a little song for the two 'posers' as the music plays.

_Faith: When I saw that you would hook up_

_the first time_

_We're saying, 'This is it, we've had enough'_

_Because like_

_You don't really know us, ain't it rough_

_So just get up out of our face_

_Boys: What?_

_Skyler: We don't want you coming around and say_

_'Baby, kiss me and you're life is gonna change'_

_Trust me, we wouldn't let you own us for a day_

_We'd say, 'we hate you', we'd mess you up_

_then you both say 'I love you'_

_Both: Oooh...ooh-ooh-ooh-ohh_

_We're calling it off for good today, so_

_Oooh...ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh_

_So listen up, cuz we're telling you, we're telling you_

_We are never ever, ever gonna get together_

_We are never ever, ever gonna get together_

_You go talk to your friends_

_Talk to our friends talk to me_

_But we are never ever, ever, ever gonna get together_

_Like...ever_

_Faith: You really wouldn't want us to start a fight_

_Cuz you'll fall for it, screaming that we're right_

_Skyler: And you would find a way to lose your freakin' mind_

_with some stupid looks that's much cooler than mine_

_Both: Oooh...oooh-ooh-ooh-ooh_

_You're coming to us again today and..._

_Oooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh_

_Once again, we're telling you, we're telling you..._

_We are never ever, ever gonna get together_

_We are never ever, ever gonna get together_

_You go talk to your friends_

_Talk to my friends talk to me_

_But we are never ever, ever, ever gonna get together_

_Ooooh-ooo-ooh-ooh-ooh, yeah_

_Ooooh-ooo-ooh-ooh-ooh, yeah_

_Ooooh-ooo-ooh-ooh-ooh, yeah_

_Ohh-oh-ohh-oh_

_Faith: In your minds, you'd think_

_that we'd last forever, ever_

_Skyler: But we're gonna say_

_never say never_

_Faith: Ugh, so you come up to us like_

_I want your body_

_But...this is ridiculous, you know?_

_Skyler: Yeah, you are never gonna hook up with us_

_like, ever!_

_Both: No!_

_We are never ever, ever gonna get together_

_We are never ever, ever gonna get together_

_You go talk to your friends _

_Talk to my friends talk to me_

_But we are never ever, ever gonna get together_

_Ooooh-ooo-ooh-ooh-ooh_

_Ooooh-ooo-ooh-ooh-ooh_

_Ooooh-ooo-ooh-ooh-ooh_

_You go talk to your friends_

_Talk to my friends talk to me_

_But we are never ever, ever, ever gonna get together_

After that song, both boys seemed a big surprised that they really meant it and as they walked away, Skyler asked, "You think they got the message?"

"If they don't, they'll learn it...the hard way." Faith replied.

* * *

The song is 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' from Taylor Swift. Notice that I made a little alternative to the lyrics, so enjoy! Hazards, weigh in please!


	55. Shelter from the Rain

This has came in pretty quickly and wanted to tap in on Max's other fear on him getting lost.

* * *

Shelter from the Rain

It was a stormy afternoon in the Valley of Peace and Max was standing around, waiting for Master Tigress to take him over to the Jade Palace to stay there until his father and siblings come back with a new adopted kid. 45 minutes went by and the storm was getting worse and still...she wasn't there.

He felt like he had no choice, but he took it upon himself to go to the Jade Palace on his own and as he walks by, he tries to remember which parts he's gonna go. Knowing that he's only too young to go walking alone by himself in a storm like this, he had no other choice.

The thunder and lightning completely stood in his way because he was scared to death with the sounds of it surrounding him and what's worse...he didn't know where he was going.

Max tried to find someone to show him where the Jade Palace is, but no one could hear him or even take time to help him out because they were all too busy. He was starting to get really, really terrified.

"Where is it?" asked Max, in a scared tone.

Max's fur was soaked up in rain and so were his clothes as he continued on walking and he was starting to get really afraid and worries that he'll never find the Jade Palace in this condition. The rain started pounding heavily on the little cub and the wind blew very heavier and heavier and he felt like he couldn't go any further.

"I'm lost." Max said.

He felt scared, alone and helpless...a little tiger cub all alone in a big storm with no one around to take him to where he was going.

He felt like he was gonna give up until he saw the view of the palace from there and he was still hoping that he would make it there by himself, even on a storm like this.

* * *

Minutes later...

Arizona, Musaki, Kiba, and Faith were cleaning up parts of the Hall of Heroes and as they were cleaning, Arizona hears the thunderclaps outside and he started to get really worried about Max a little bit and it definitely showed. Faith notices Arizona's ears drooping a little lower and she could tell something was wrong with him and she asked, "Are you okay, Arizona?"

Arizona looks over at Faith and he lets out a small nod and Faith asked him, "You sure?"

"What's taking Tigress and Max so long? They should've been here by now." Arizona said, in a worried tone.

"Maybe they don't want their furs to be soaking wet." Kiba said, to lighten the mood up a little.

Faith glared at Kiba super-annoyed-like and she asked, "Really?"

Kiba noticed that look from her and said, "Just trying to lighten up here."

"Cut out the jokes, Kiba. I'm really serious." Arizona said, with the same annoyed look.

Musaki looks up at Arizona and he told him, "If I know them, they might be taking in shelter from the storm until it like lets up. I'm sure they both of them are gonna walk through this door any minute now."

Arizona was hoping that Musaki's right on that one, but on the inside...his worries are still there and he knows how scared Max is when it comes to thunderstorms. Just then, the door opens and they saw Ryo coming in, his clothes and fur all soaked up with rain and Faith told him, "Ryo, we just cleaned up here."

"Sorry. Man, this storm is no joke." Ryo said.

"Heavy rain, huh?" asked Musaki.

Ryo nodded his head and said, "Heavier than Skyler kicking me in places I don't wanna be kicked in when she is mad. I mean, winds blowing, rain pounding so hard...any doofus would even think about coming here on their own in this storm."

"You should dry your fur off, Ryo. It looks like you're a wet dog except you don't really stink." Arizona added.

Ryo laughed sarcastically at Arizona's remark on that one and said, "I'd like to shake off my wetness all over your fur."

"Do that and Master Shifu will have your tail to no end." Faith said, sternly.

Ryo walks off from this and the others were still cleaning and not long after, the door opens and they were unaware that Max was standing there, his clothes and fur all drenched with rainwater and they were dripping on the floor and he said, "Hello."

The first person to notify Max was Arizona and when he turns around and saw him dripping wet, he was completely shocked and remotely mortified to see this and he said, "Max!"

The others took notice on Max all soaking wet and Musaki came up to him and said, "Dude, you're all wet."

"I know." Max replied.

Arizona came up to him and said, "What are you doing here in a storm like this? Where's Tigress?"

Max didn't say anything about it because he knew what the reaction would be for everyone if he said she didn't show up, but just by the look in Max's eyes, Arizona already figured it out and asked, "She didn't pick you up, didn't she?"

"No. She never came." Max replied.

"So you walked to the Jade Palace all by yourself?" asked Kiba.

"Mm-hmm."

Faith then adds, "In this storm?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Were you scared?" asked Ryo.

"Mm-hmm."

Arizona lets out a deep sigh of regret over this and he said, "I knew I should've went out and picked him up before the storm. I just knew it."

"I'm sorry, Arizona." Max said.

Arizona looks up at him and said, "It's not your fault. It's mine."

Kiba clears his throat in response and said, "Shouldn't it be Tigress' fault? Because she was supposed to pick him up."

Arizona picks Max up and he said, "Come on, little guy. I gotta dry you off."

As Arizona takes Max to the barracks, Shifu walks in and sees mostly everyone standing up and then, he noticed a puddle of water in front of the door and he asked, "Who came by in this weather?"

"Max." Kiba quickly replied.

Shifu's eyes widened in shock by this and he asked, "Wasn't Tigress supposed to bring him here?"

All of them didn't want to say that Tigress failed to pick Max up due to the storm because of how Shifu would react, but by the looks on their faces...it was enough for Shifu to gain his answer. He was livid and asked, "Where is she?"

"Might still be in the training hall." Ryo answered.

* * *

At the barracks

Arizona walked to the bathroom door to check on Max and as he knocked on the door, he asked, "Hey, Max...you dry yourself off yet?"

"Uh-huh." Max replied.

"Got the clothes I put out for you?"

"Yeah."

"All right."

Arizona waited for Max to come out and when Max opened the door, he saw that he was wearing Arizona's old shorts and that made him laugh a little bit and said, "I don't know who's shorts are those...but they fit you fine."

"They look a little...big." Max added.

Arizona rubs Max's head and he lets out a chuckle and said, "They'll grow on ya. When you get older, you can have them. I wore out of those when I was...9 or 10."

Max giggled a little bit in response and then Arizona said, "Viper's gonna dry your clothes for you, so it'll take a while before you wear them again."

"Okay."

Arizona got down to Max's level and he asked, "How did you even find your way here by yourself?"

"I don't know. At first...I was lost and I didn't know where it was and I was afraid that I would never make it. I was really scared and the storm was even scarier. But I finally looked up and there it was...but it was so far away. I was trying my best to be brave like you, but I got scared the whole way...and wet." Max explained.

Arizona blinked his eyes in response and he lets out a big sigh and said, "Max...you don't have to be brave to prove you're not scared."

"I don't?" asked Max.

"Of course not. Sometimes...it's okay to be a little scared now and then, but being brave doesn't mean you can't be afraid of anything. It's just doing what you're afraid to do and when you face them, you'll have the courage to beat those fears. Even the best kung-fu warriors are scared at times too, but it's the same feeling that made them do what they do. Okay?" Arizona said.

"I guess I do." Max added.

Arizona nodded and he said, "I gotta admit, I was scared too. I was worried that you might get lost in this weather. I guess...if I was a better brother, it would've been easier, huh?"

Max placed his hand around Arizona's shoulder and said, "It's not your fault. Big brothers make mistakes too."

"I know. But I should've been more responsible."

Max hugged Arizona and he lets out a small purr and told him, "It's okay to say you made a mistake. But that doesn't mean that you'll stop being my brother."

That made Arizona smile just a little bit and he said, "Right you are, little buddy."

He then hugs him back and Arizona then asked, "So...what's your dad doing again?"

"He's going to South China to find an orphaned wolfdog who's got like anger problems or something. He said he'll be back in like a week or so." Max replied.

"How many more kids is your dad gonna take in?" asked Arizona.

"Beats me."

Just then, Viper slithers her way to the hallway and she went up to Max and said, "I'm gonna find some more clothes for you."

"Thank you, Miss Viper." Max said.

Viper smiled at that and she said, "You're so sweet, Max."

Arizona chuckled at that and he said, "Viper's got a little crush on you."

Both of them made their way to Arizona's room, but before they went in, Shifu came through the hallway with Tigress behind him and when they came towards the tiger cub, Shifu looked up at him and said, "I believe we owe you an apology, Max. Musaki and the others told me that you arrived here soaking wet in the rain and when Kiba told me that you came here by yourself in this storm, I figured that Tigress has failed to do that simple task."

Arizona blinked his eyes in response and Max said to Shifu, "I had no other choice."

"I do not hold blame on someone like you." Shifu said.

He then turned to Tigress and then asked, "I believe you have something to say to Max, Master Tigress?"

Tigress then went up towards Max's level and said, "Sorry, Max. I was too caught up in training that I didn't think about it."

"It's okay. Accidents happen." Max stated.

"Well, this is one 'accident' that's gotten her in trouble. She will be on punishment for an entire month." Shifu stated.

That certainly didn't take Tigress well and she asked, "What?! Over not picking Max up?! This is ridiculous!"

"What's ridiculous is that you didn't even follow that simple order!" Shifu shot back.

Both of them continued to argue about this and that left Max and Arizona looking at each other at this and Max asked, "Are they always like this?"

"I ask myself the same question...though I'm pretty sure Tigress isn't as mature as we thought." Arizona answered.

* * *

That was cool, right? Hazards, weigh in on this and stay tuned for more!


	56. Last Time I Got Busted

Taking the hilariousness to the amped up extent.

* * *

Last Time I Got Busted...

At the Sacred Peach Tree, Musaki and Arizona gathered around with Takami, Ryo, Kiba, Hope, Faith, Skyler and Layla just talking and hanging around, making a few jokes now and then and sharing a few stories with each other and Kiba asked, "Hey, Musaki...have you ever gotten in trouble before?"

Musaki ponders on that question for a minute and he replied, "Sometimes...yeah. I get in trouble a little bit, but not a whole lot."

"Like...what's the last time you got in trouble for?" asked Kiba.

Musaki began to think about the last time he got in trouble for something and just then, he finally got one and he said, "Okay...a few months ago, I accidently went back to the Jade Palace really late because I was at some birthday party from some of my cousin's friends. I had a lot of fun there...until it was like 11:00 and I hadn't have realized that I was two hours late that I'm supposed to come back. So I snuck back in, thought no one would notice...until Shifu saw me. I was on punishment for a week by doing Shifu's chores and I had to spar with him for a whole week."

Takami was really blown away by what had transpired that moment and he said, "Man, that was crazy."

"Yeah...but at least it's better than sparring with Tigress. I'll tell ya that much." Musaki added.

Takami nodded his head and he had his turn on the last time he got in trouble and he said, "Okay...I was doing some sparring with Tigress and I thought I was doing great...well until she like beat me down really hard. I didn't take that loss really well and...I ended up-totally by accident-cursed her out."

Musaki and Arizona gasped in shock and Ryo dropped his jaw in response and then Kiba said, "Oh...I remember now. You completely said it to her face...like you were gonna say..."

Takami was quick to cover Kiba's mouth because he did not want to hear him repeat the curse word Takami accidently used and Ryo said, "Finally, someone shuts him up."

"Did you get in trouble for it?" asked Arizona.

Takami nodded his head in response and he said, "I had to put a muzzle on my mouth after that and I had to carry a lot of weights up and down, like 3,000 times until it was midnight. I felt like I was gonna die out there."

Arizona snickered in response to that and Takami then finished with, "Fortunately, it was only one time though...and I am not gonna say it again."

"Has your girlfriend ever gotten in trouble?" asked Arizona.

Layla looked up in response and she said, "I don't think I've ever been in trouble for anything...well except for that time when Po caught me and Takami kissing in the dark. But nothing happened...I swear."

Ryo whistled in response and Kiba chuckled softly and said, "Takami...you lucky dog!"

"Shut up..." Takami said, with a growl.

Skyler scoffs at both Ryo and Kiba's actions and she said, "You two are completely acting like puppies...Ryo mostly."

Ryo looks at her in response and he said, "Looks who's talking. But I guess 'Little Miss Perfect' has her share of getting busted."

Skyler knew that Ryo was gonna tell them the story that she was gonna keep hidden from her for years, but Ryo decided to air it out in the open anyway and he said, "Okay...it was about one day that she was practicing her lightning skills, right? And somewhere along the line...she got distracted because she thought I came in to pull a prank on her and then her lightning power had placed a bunch of holes all over the training hall...and it was almost destroyed."

"Oooh...that's big." Arizona stated.

"It was an accident!" Skyler said, in defense.

"She had to clean up the whole training hall for three months and refix some of the walls." Ryo added.

Skyler looked at Ryo with a small growl for calling her out, but she smirked at him to turn to tables around and she said, "But I wasn't the only one that had their share of getting in trouble for stupidity."

Ryo looked up at her and figured that she was gonna do him the same way as he did her and said, "Do not tell that story."

"Ryo...he thought that one day he would like completely do something completely stupid and get away with it. One particular moment is where he thought that he was gonna shove his bare butt into my face and he was waiting for me to come out of the shower...but you see, I had to outsmart him and I came out of the other door of the bathhouse and instead, he shoved his bare butt to Master Tigress' face." Skyler explained.

Arizona turned to Ryo in surprise and he asked, "Seriously?"

"I thought it was Skyler." Ryo stated.

"So...what did you do?" asked Musaki.

Ryo lets out a shudder and said, "I had to spar with her for an entire week and because of me shoving my butt in Tigress' face, Shifu gave me two punishments; one was to do his chores and another was to do Tigress' laundry. I was not a happy camper to wash her clothes."

"And I was definitely laughing when he wasn't looking." Skyler added.

Ryo turned to Skyler and said, "You just love to humiliate me, don't ya?"

Arizona chuckled at this and he said, "Well...mine's a lot more bigger than yours. There was this one moment that I was bathing, right? I was just letting all the fur soak my body, just relaxing, you know? But then...I saw Monkey and Po taking all of my clothes and a towel and as they snuck off with it, I was mad furious. Both Monkey and Po like mooned me and I had every mind to chase them down to get what's mine and I ran around the entire palace wet and naked. And the worst thing about it...everyone in the palace was watching me and Shifu put an end to this and all three of us got punished; mainly Po and Monkey for pulling this joke on me and I was dead set humiliated when he told me to run around the entire valley naked."

Kiba then started laughing hysterically at this and just rolled around the ground, imaging that on his mind and it left Arizona blushing in embarassment and Hope said, "Wow...I would've been there to see that."

Arizona then covered his face for a sec and said, "Please don't."

Faith then puts her paw on Arizona's shoulder and said, "Well...I have gotten in some trouble too. One day...Ryo and Kiba were trying to roughhouse with me and I told them I want nothing to do with this, but they proceeded to anyway and just attacked me to no end. I had enough of it and I used my ice powers to freeze them, but they dodged out of the way and I froze Master Shifu instead. I guess he assumed that he saw this was me getting out of control with my powers and all three of us had to carry weights up and down the stairs."

Faith then glares at both Ryo and Kiba for being involved with it and Ryo said, "If you didn't want to do it, you should've said something."

"Were you that serious?" asked Kiba.

"Yes." Faith replied, with a growl.

"Oops."

Hope then had his turn in raising his hand to share a little something that he didn't tell anyone and he said, "Okay...a few weeks ago, I went to Kaizer's room and came to check on him. He wasn't really there and then I saw his journal sticking out of the edge of his bed. I know I shouldn't read his private and personal thoughts he wrote in...but something in me couldn't resist. I opened the pages and there was one particular page that stood out the most for me...that he's in love with Felicity...though he hasn't fully told that to us yet, but I had a gut feeling that they were more than just friends. In his journal, he wrote, 'Dreamt about Felicity again last night and that I was lost in her eyes...they were so cute, even though she's blind. I had the most sweetest dream that I finally told her that I loved her and we were kissing in the rain and that we were floating around the air and into the skies. But not only that, I felt like my entire body was being touched in every single ways I could never imagine. Felicity makes my life complete and I wish I was her mate.' Man, I was definitely laughing my tail off the way Kaizer makes it so romantic and stuff. Until...I was caught by Kaizer when he walked in with his journal in my paws and he chased me around the entire palace and through most of the Valley."

"Well, that's what you get when you read a person's private thoughts." Layla pointed out.

"Well, Ryo told me that he would picture Skyler naked." Hope said, quickly.

"Dude..." Ryo said, in a hushed tone.

That obviously set Skyler off quickly and she glared at Ryo and she asked, "You what?!"

"Yeah, he said in his sleep that he would definitely see both of them naked together and kissing in his room." Hope added.

Ryo chuckled in a nervous tone and said, "You know I would say random things whenever I'm sleeping, right?"

"Run...now." Skyler said, in an angry tone.

In response, Ryo got up and he ran out of the Peach Tree screaming with Skyler chasing after him with lightning around her paws to aim them at Ryo. Arizona then said, "That was interesting."

* * *

How awesome was this?! Did it rip through your funny bone? Hazards, weigh in on this if you must. Stay tuned for more of this!


	57. Kiba Trains with Max

A little training session between Kiba and Max.

* * *

Kiba Trains with Max

One morning in the Training Hall, Max walks inside to see what everyone else is doing and as he walks down the stairs, he saw Kiba doing some training on his own and when he does his backflip move, that completely made Max awestruck and stared at him deeply. Soon enough, he released his blue fire power which completely left him speechless and a little bit frightened.

The white wolfdog throws it around a few target walls and sets it on fire and soon enough, it almost hit Max and he ducked out of the way by curling up in a little ball and laying flat on his back. Max then started coughing after the smoke cleared and it most likely caught Kiba's attention as he heard Max coughing and he said, "You okay, little dude?"

"Uh-huh." Max replied.

Kiba then got into Max's level and said, "I am so sorry. I didn't see you there."

Max dusted himself off a ltitle bit and stood up and told him, "It's okay. It was just an accident. Besides, what I saw was really cool.'

Kiba figured that Max was talking about his blue fire power and he lets out a little nervous chuckle and replied, "Oh, you saw that?"

"Yeah. Can you show me some of your moves?" asked Max.

Kiba nods his head in response and he said, "I see you're up for some training skills, little man."

"Can you teach me a few things from you? Faith, Arizona and mostly everyone gave me some training skills and I figured I might learn something from you." Max added.

Kiba smiles at Max and gives him a little fist-bump and said, "Cool, man."

Not long after that, Kiba gives Max a few moves to try on and he starts it off first and Max tries to emulate what Kiba does and the white wolfdog was deeply impressed with what he's got and Kiba does an original move on his own and as Max tried his best to do it, he slipped and fell down to the ground, much to Max's own disappointment. Kiba encourages him to keep going and to try it again and Max has tried it over and over again and sticks it perfectly.

Kiba cheers for Max and that made the white tiger cub happy and later on, Max punches Kiba's paws to help him with his self-defense training and he does a few moves and mini-spars here and there and Max does a little move where he can stand on his hands, blowing Kiba's mind away.

Max sees Kiba doing a few moves of his own that max can do where he can do an air-kick and that sort made him nervous and Kiba comes up to him to help ease the anxiety away with a smile on his face stating, "I know you can do it."

Max then stands up, takes a deep breath and does a stance first and tries the kick the first time, but slips off and falls down to the floor. He gets up and tries it again for the second time with an almost perfect progress and Kiba knew he almost got it and when he tries it again mixed with the flip, Kiba was howling in happiness that he got it.

"I did it!" Max said.

"Yeah, you did! Give me some paws, little man!" Kiba said, sticking his paw out.

Max gave Kiba a high-five and a fist bump to go along with it and Kiba asked, "Wanna do some more?"

"Uh-huh." Max said, enthusiastically.

For the whole hour, Kiba continues teaching Max a few moves he's giving him and each time he lands it well with Kiba's support and encouragement, the little tiger cub's confidence level rose up like crazy and Max was emulating everything that Kiba brought in and made it his own original move.

Next up, Kiba and Max were ready to put this to the test...by a mini-spar. Kiba then ran up to him and Max ducked down quickly and he quickly went up to Kiba and did some sparring of his own by dodging every single move he does and Max made some jabs, kicks and uppercut moves and Kiba was fascinated by how he does it so well in a short period of time and soon, Max slid underneath Kiba's legs and did a backflip and went up on the air and landed on the ground.

Kiba dropped his jaw in shock, but filled with happiness that he had gotten it and he cheered for Max and said, "All right, Maxie! Maxie, my dude!"

"How'd I do?" asked Max.

"Seriously? You did awesome, man! Like...best ever! I am so proud of you, dude." Kiba said, happily.

That made Max smile a lot and he said, "Thanks."

He then jumped onto Kiba and hugged him tightly and Kiba accepted it and hugged him back as well and Max said, "I liked training with you."

"Me too, little guy." Kiba replied.

Soon enough, Max got back on his feet and then, he saw Arizona come down and said, "Big brother...I've learned some new moves today."

"You did? Who taught you?" asked Arizona.

"Uncle Kiba."

Both Arizona and Kiba were completely surprised that Max called Kiba his uncle and the white wolfdog chuckled softly at this and he told Arizona, "You should've seen it. This guy is like a firecracker. He's got a knack for this kind of thing."

"Show me what he showed you, Maxie." Arizona added.

Soon enough, Max showed Arizona what Kiba had taught him and both wolves cheered for Max and the little tiger cub was glad to have Kiba be his trainer for a day.

* * *

Was that awesome or what?! Kiba could become a great mentor for Max. Kiba, the spotlight goes on ya! Weigh in if you must and stay tuned for more!


	58. Musaki vs Faith

I've always had Musaki and Arizona spar with the Hazards guys, so why not let one female spar with one of them?

* * *

Musaki vs. Faith

One day at the training hall, Musaki walks over to the training hall and he saw Faith standing in front of him and he said, "Hey, Faith. Didn't see you there."

"It's okay. I'm actually glad you're here." Faith responded.

That sorta made Musaki pause for a second after hearing what she actually said and he asked, "You are? Why?"

"I want you to spar with me." Faith replied.

Musaki widened his eyes in response to that and he was actually surprised that Faith asked him to spar with him and he asked, "Me...spar with you?"

"Yeah. You took down most of the guys...so I thought it'd be more interesting if you sparred with a girl." Faith added.

Musaki figured that this would be something new to experience, but it's not the first time he's had to spar with a female before. He sparred with mostly Tigress and Viper, so it was no surprise that he has to take this on and he said, "No problem."

Faith immediately took her basic stance to start off with and that gave Musaki time to get himself set and ready for this and both of them gave each other passing glances to determine that they're up for the challenge and Faith immediately started leaping through the air and Musaki dodged out of the way and waited for her to come out.

Faith got herself up and she charged at Musaki with her claws and Musaki dodged every move she made and he started kicking and punching jabs towards her and soon enough, both of them were leaping towards each other to take each other down and land on the ground in opposite directions.

Musaki looks up and he made a simple backflip that kicked Faith straight to the shin and he grabbed her by the wrist and flipped her several times, but Faith has something else up her sleeve. She grabbed Musaki's wrist and used her ice powers to froze it, then she broke through the ice and released him quickly.

"What the...?!" Musaki exclaimed.

Faith smirked at him in response and Musaki stood there looking bewildered that she used her ice powers to do that and he said, "That wasn't supposed to happen."

"It just did." Faith added.

Musaki gathered up every strength he could muster to get her back and said, "Okay, cheetah girl...bring in your worst."

Faith was happy to oblige and she went forward and kicked him straight in the stomach, but Musaki got back up and continued sparring with her in every which way possible he could go to take her down. Musaki then gathered up every single ounce of moves he could use to go to the maximum edge and he quickly came at her, giving her a huge kick to the jaw.

Faith leaped back up in all fours and she went and backflipped him in the jaw, but Musaki stood up and kept going. He then jumped up in the air, grabbed onto the top railing roofs of the Jade Palace, twisted his body around and gets off with a corkscrew kick to her shin and then kicked a massive blue and white power orb out of his foot and tackled Faith in the back with it.

Faith and Musaki looked at each other as they circled themselves around like they were serious and continued to go at each other as hard as they went for and Faith used her ice powers to aim at Musaki, but he dodged them in every way possible whenever he flipped, ducked and slid across which annoys and impressed Faith.

Musaki then used his anti-gravity lean move to dodge Faith's icy aim and the ice aimed at the wall and when Musaki got back up, Faith was severely shocked that he actually did that.

"Impressed?" asked Musaki.

"How did you...?" asked Faith, awestruck.

"I will never tell." Musaki replied.

After all of this, both of them continued to spar with each other and both kicked, punched, swung and threw in every single punch they brought in possible to determine who's got the better moves and skills and soon after, Faith leaped up and pinned Musaki down to the ground and then Musaki quickly kicked her in the stomach to get her off him.

Both of them got themselves up and dusted themselves off like it's no big deal and Musaki said, "You're a heck of a fighter."

"You're not so bad yourself." Faith added.

Musaki then clears his throat and asked, "So...why did you want to spar with me?"

"I sorta saw you teaching your girlfriend how to spar and from what I could tell...she kicked your butt hard." Faith answered.

Musaki had no idea Faith actually saw the little session they had and he lets out an embarassed blush and said, "You saw that?"

"Yeah. It kinda got me thinking that maybe he should spar with a girl for a change to sorta see if we have the same fighting skills as guys do." Faith replied.

Musaki chuckled at this and said, "We both have great skills...so it's a draw."

"Good point. I'd like to spar with you again." Faith said.

"Me too."

* * *

How's this? Faith, the spotlight's on you to weigh in. Stick around for more!


	59. The Story of How Faith Met Hope

And here's where Arizona asks Hope and Faith how they met each other.

* * *

The Story of How Faith Met Hope

Arizona was hanging around in Hope's room for a second to just talk and things like that and he was really curious as to how Faith became his girlfriend because they've been together for quite sometime and he asked, "Hey, Hope. Mind if I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure." Hope replied.

Arizona scratched the back of his head for a second and he asked, "How did you and Hope ever became...you know like...boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Hope had figured that this question came to him so quickly and he started blushing in reaction and said, "Well...it's kinda weird of you to ask...but I guess it was about the time I was new to being this Phoenix Warrior thing and when I looked at Faith for the first time...I definitely had a crush on her. But I wasn't sure if she had felt the same way because a bear like me would never fall for a cheetah. I wasn't really the strong, muscular and good-looking type. I'm just...a bear. But Faith saw past that and really liked me from the inside and just accepted me for me."

Arizona blinked his eyes at that and he said, "That's interesting. How long have you guys been together?"

"For a few months now." Hope answered.

"That's pretty sweet." Arizona added.

Hope scratched the back of his neck and he explained, "I have a ton of feelings for Faith, but I'm kinda scared that she might not feel the same way. I know she has feelings for me, but I just don't know..."

"...how to say them?" asked Arizona.

Hope looks up at Arizona almost as if he read his mind already and he asked, "How'd you...?"

Arizona chuckled at this and said, "I've been there before. I felt the same nervous feeling I have when I had Sierra as my girlfriend. We both have feelings for each other, but often times...I get really nervous about what I say or do when I'm in front of her. The first few times I met her, I felt as if I had found my true mate in her...but I often feel tongue twisted if I try to say something. But when I told her how I felt about her, I found out that she felt the same way about me."

"What does this have to do with me?" asked Hope, in a confused tone.

"The way you feel about Faith is the same way I felt about Sierra. You know you like her a lot, but you just don't know if she likes you back." Arizona added.

Suddenly, it all made a lot of sense to what he just said and he had figured that out quickly and Hope asked, "So...what do I do about it? How do I make her like me?"

"Just be yourself."

Hope and Arizona turns around and sees Faith standing there, listening to the whole conversation the whole time and she sat next to Hope and said, "You don't have to be big, strong or even good-looking to impress me. I don't really care for all of that stuff. I like you for who you are and that's all I like you for."

That made Hope smile a little bit knowing that she accepts him for who he is and he said, "You always know what to say."

Faith then tells Arizona something that she's never told anyone before and she said, "Before I met Hope, I was adjusting to new life here in the Jade Palace and Takami had a crush on me and I guess Kiba thought that we'd be great together and one day, he asked me if me and him could be together, but I turned him down because fire and ice didn't go together. After that, he ran off crying and I knew I made a mistake in turning him down when I gave him that answer."

"Why'd you do that?" asked Arizona, a little surprised.

"I didn't wanna hurt him. He's great...but fire and ice don't go so well. I didn't mean to hurt him and even when he came back, I wanted to make things right...but he already met Layla when she came over. I felt like I was never gonna get a chance to apologize to him, but Takami told me that he's okay with staying friends with me. And right now...I've already found another guy."

"Who?" asked Hope.

Faith giggled in response and she said, "You."

Hope looks up at her and he lets out a nervous chuckle and said, "I knew that."

Arizona could see what she was talking about and that Hope's got Faith and Takami's got Layla, so in a way...it's a win-win for both of them.

"I'm really glad you guys are together." Arizona stated.

"So do we." Faith replied, while giving Hope a kiss in the cheek and in response, Hope froze for a second and fainted on the ground.

"Happens a lot?" asked Arizona.

"Not really." Faith replied.

* * *

I hope that I put their personalities are good. Faith and Hope...weigh in on this. Stick around for more!


	60. Croc Attack

Thought I would put in some action. You thought that I was gonna get away with putting no action in this one-shot? Think again.

* * *

Croc Attack

Musaki, Arizona, Max, Takami, Ryo, Kiba, Skyler, Layla and Kaizer were walking towards the village to make their way back to the Jade Palace for a quick second and Max looks up at Skyler and asked, "What are we doing today?"

Skyler looks over at Max with a smile and said, "You wanna do a little bit of training with me?"

"Mm-hmm." Max replied, nodding his head.

Ryo heard this and he figured that he was gonna be quick to say something to Max about Skyler and said, "Be careful with Skyler. You don't know what you're in for."

Skyler wanted to slug Ryo in the privates, but that wouldn't look good for Max to see and Max asked, "Why?"

"Because she's the last person you'll have as a trainer. She's like way worse than Tigress...except she's a fox." Ryo added.

Skyler glared at Ryo for a minute in response, then she turns to Max and said, "Don't listen to him. He obviously doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut."

"Watch your back, Maxie. She'll come at you." Ryo stated.

"Ignore the man-puppy over here and you'll be fine." Skyler argued.

Ryo sputtered at that remark that Skyler called him and said, "Man-puppy? You're a woman-puppy!"

Arizona clears his throat and glares at both of them and said, "You do realize you're scaring Max, right?"

They could see that Max is starting to become a little bit frightened towards them and Skyler looked at him and said, "I'm sorry, Max."

"Yeah, sorry, buddy." Ryo said, patting his head.

Just then, Takami looks at Max for a second there and he said, "Now you see that this is what I have to deal with...two dogs fighting like puppies."

That in turn made Ryo and Skyler turn to Takami in a state of offensiveness and Ryo asked, "Really, T.K.? Puppies?"

Kaizer then steps in out of nowhere and he said, "I think I might be qualified to train you after Skyler."

Soon enough, they heard a scream come from out of nowhere and all of them rushed over to another part of the village where they seek an eight-year old white tigress shouting at the croc bandits to give back her toy. She jumped up and said, "Give it back!"

One croc bandit laughed in mocking tone and said, "Look, kid...this toy is mine now."

"But you're a boy! Boys don't play with dolls!" the white tigress shouted.

Another set of croc bandits surrounded her and one said, "We're gonna snatch every toy you have and there's nothing you can do about it!"

The lead croc looks over, apparently groaning in exasperation and throws his helmet to the ground and said, "Gah-ri! You're not supposed to tell her we're gonna snatch her toys!"

"But you said that we should also steal stuff from around the house!" Gah-ri shot back.

"Yeah, that's part of the plan." another croc bandit added.

The lead croc seethed in response and lets out a huge yell in frustration and he said, "Shut up! Can you imagine what would happen if someone hears us?!"

"Too late."

They all seek Musaki, Arizona, Takami, Ryo, Skyler, Kaizer, Layla and Max come out of nowhere and the reaction from the lead croc was, "Darn it!"

"So...we meet again...Funk." Musaki smirking.

"It's Fung! F-U-N...Fung!"

Kaizer looks up at the croc bandits and he asked, "Are you guys for real?"

"Sadly, yes." Musaki responded.

"And you guys have the nerve to steal a doll from an eight year old? You couldn't do anything else better?" asked Skyler.

Fung growls at all of them and he said, "Get them!"

Musaki knew that this was time and he tells Layla, Kiba and Max, "Guys...make sure the girl doesn't get hurt. We'll take care of these scaly buffoons."

"I draw the line at buffoons!" Fung said, shocked.

"Well, what else can we describe you?" asked Ryo.

Most of the croc bandits were fighting off of Musaki and Arizona, but the two went towards two crocs and attacked them head-on, where Musaki pummels him to the ground while Arizona kicks them straight in the jaw and snout.

Ryo, Kiba and Takami charged forward at Gah-ri and two other crocs to beat them down and Gah-ri tries to aim at them with his weapon, but misses everytime he tries to hit at them. Kiba stomps on his foot, making Gah-ri scream in response while Ryo grabbed ahold of Gah-ri's weapon and plans to whack him with it.

"Give it back!" Gah-ri shouted.

Takami then picks up Gah-ri by the tail, spins him around, throws him in the air and then leaps up at kicks him in the chest in mid-air while Ryo and Kiba pummels him down in unison, thus bashing him over the head.

Meanwhile, Layla, Kaizer and Max were doing everything they can to make sure the little white tigress cub was safe from them and Fung quickly chased them down across the house and Kaizer has no problem attacking Fung for the first time.

He quickly jumped over to Fung's back and slammed him down hard, then he punched, kicked and flipped him across the floor. He then said, "I've known croc bandits exist, but never met one as stupid like you."

"Where did you come from anyway? Because you're like way further from this part of town." Fung said, questioning Kaizer's motive.

Kaizer then glared at him and replied, "I'm the new Avenger of Peace. I made it my vow to keep the Valley of Peace safe at all costs, even people like you freaks."

"Freaks?! You have no idea who you're calling freak, freak!" Fung shouted.

Both of them kept fighting and fighting and then Kaizer kicks some of Fung's random weapons and in the lead croc's reaction, he said, "Man, you're scarier than that tiger dude."

"Who, Tigress?" asked Kaizer.

"Whomever."

Meanwhile, Layla and Max were checking to see if the coast was clear and once it was clear, they quietly managed to sneak out of the quiet spaces of the room and just then...

Two more bandits surrounded them out of nowhere to get them and Layla quickly punched them out, but the crocs just got started with her and she turned to Max and said, "Run! Take the girl somewhere safe!"

Max was a little alarmed to take that responsibility and asked, "Me? But I..."

"Max, just do what I tell you!" Layla exclaimed.

Max wasn't really sure if he could do this, but when he looked at the girl's face, he could see that she was really scared and this might be the only choice he has left. He said, "Follow me."

Both white tiger cubs ran out of there and the girl said, "We gotta find a place to hide. Do you know where?"

Max panted heavily at this and he said, "I don't know."

They kept running until the reached the doors out of the house, but they were immediately blocked by Fung, who stood in their way and both cubs were trembling with fear and Fung said, "Going somewhere?"

"Leave us alone!" Max shouted.

Fung laughs at Max for stepping up and he said, "You actually think you short, puny little shrimp like you can stop me?"

Max did not take that well and he reacted by stomping on Fung's foot and he brought the girl out of the room and three bandits surrounded him, planning to get at them...but they were stopped when Arizona beat them holy freaking crap out of them to save these two.

"You guys okay?" asked Arizona.

"Think so." Max replied.

The bandits weren't done with the girl yet as they grabbed her and planned to kidnap her and Fung said, "We won, you lost!"

But little did they know...

The little white tigress bit on Fung's finger and she stomped his foot and then beat the living crap out of the bandits like it was no one else's business. Fung looks up and looked very intimidated by this girl and he said, "I think I may have piddled myself."

Minutes later, the rest of them were surprised by this girl's ability and Arizona said, "I didn't know you had skills like that."

"My big brother taught me a few things." she said.

Max came up to her and he said, "You okay?"

"Yeah, thanks to you." the white tigress said, smiling.

Max smiled back as well and he said, What's your name?"

"Saori. Yours?"

"Max."

Saori smiled at him and she said, "Nice to meet you, Max. Thank you guys again."

"Anytime." Musaki replied.

Saori walks back to her house, but not before she gave Max a kiss on the cheek and that made everyone else react in surprise and she ran back to her house and Max stood there frozen.

"Somebody's got a girlfriend!" Kiba said, in a singsong voice.

Arizona chuckled softly at this and said, "Maxie..."

Max washed his cheek quickly and said, "I feel gross."

* * *

Saori is owned by Master of Stories. Hope ya like. Hazards, weigh in and stick around for more!


	61. Learning About Musaki's PArents

We switch gears to the Hazards wanting to know a little more about Musaki's parents and it comes as a surprise to them.

* * *

Learning about Musaki's Parents

One day in the Jade Palace, Musaki pulled out a single box full of keepsakes that resembles his parents and as he looks around in them, all of those were pictures, headbands and a piece of family history that have been passed down from generation to generation and even after they died, Musaki has kept them inside his heart for so long and as he looked around, he sees a picture of his father when he was Musaki's age.

Oddly enough, the two look just alike from each other...despite the fact that he has a much more chubby look and a little bit slender on one side. Musaki chuckled softly at this and said, "We're all the same, aren't we, dad?"

Almost immediately, Musaki turns around and there was Takami standing there and he said, "Hey, Kami."

Takami came inside the room and he asked, "Whatcha got there?"

Musaki shows him a few keepsakes that his Uncle Mako gave him years ago after they were reunited and replied, "Just some stuff. Like some of my parents had for so long."

That seemed to surprise Takami the most about this because he never expected Musaki to keep all of this around him and he asked, "How long have you had this?"

"About...almost 2 years." Musaki replied.

Not long after, Ryo, Kiba, Hope, Kaizer, Faith, Layla, Arizona and Skyler showed up to his room to see what's going on and they were completely curious as to what's in that box and when Musaki explained that it was all keepsakes of his parents, most of them were a little surprised and impressed.

"What's inside?" asked Ryo.

"Most of these are pictures of my mom and dad when they were my age." Musaki explained, as he looked through those one by one.

Musaki showed a few pics of his mom to the others and they were completely amazed to see those pictures with her and Skyler said, "She looks beautiful."

"They've always said she has the most beautiful face and a warm hearted personality." Musaki added.

"Was she attractive too?" asked Ryo.

Skyler growls at him in response to that and then Musaki said, "Some would say...but she doesn't draw too much attention from everyone else around her. That's how my dad fell in love with her...because she has the kindest heart and a beautiful face to match. My dad loved her for who she was."

"That sounds sweet." Hope added.

And then, he shows them some pictures of his father and many were surprised by the similar looks that Musaki and his dad had together and Ryo said, "He looks just like you."

"People often tell me I have his face...just a little bit." Musaki added.

Kiba was definitely amazed to see Musaki's dad in samurai clothing while holding a samurai sword and he said, "Whoa...was that your dad?"

Musaki went over and he sat next to Kiba and sees his dad and replied, "Yep, that's him."

"Whoa! He looked cool!" Kiba exclaimed.

Musaki chuckled in response and said, "Yeah, he was looking forward to being a kung-fu master...even though he didn't want to be a part of it."

"What? Why wouldn't he?" asked Faith.

Musaki responded to Faith, "Well...his dad-my grandfather-was already a legendary kung-fu master and even though he would've liked to become one, he just didn't want to have all the credit and have anyone change who he is, nor have some comparisons between him and my grandfather, so he kinda put it aside for a bit. He's very helpful and wise in his own way. He said that if he would become a kung-fu master, he would probably reconsider living a normal life and probably become a keeper of peace in Shanghai Secluded Valley...like maybe be his own master there. And yes...my dad married my mom and wouldn't ya know it...me and Zeke came into their world."

"Wow...that's cool. But still...I'm surprised he wasn't one of the biggest kung-fu masters in all of China." Takami stated.

"Yeah, why didn't he change his mind?" asked Arizona.

Musaki chuckled softly at this and said, "Even if he wanted to, other masters would look at him as Oak Sung's son following in his footsteps. He's already a kung-fu master in his own right and that was enough for him. He'd rather be a normal guy than a master...which pretty much sums up who I should be. I'm still deciding, but I'll make my own choice when it's time. Us Bushido-Akio's...we'd never let anything big like fame, glory and stuff change who we are. We just appreciate the journey and at the end of the day, we're very peaceful and close-knit oriented. That's how we roll."

"Cool." Kiba said.

"After Tai Lung killed both my mom and dad, it was like time had stopped for anyone that knew my parents well. They knew for a fact that no one would replace them and their spirit has never died because they wouldn't want those who knw them best to be sad for the rest of their lives, but rather to move on and be happy." Musaki added.

Almost everyone was speechless to hear what Musaki just said and for Takami, it was like a personal mantra that would become synonymous to his personal life as well as everyone else's. Kaizer responded with, "Now I wish I would've lived like that."

"Being sad about someone dying...what good will that do? You know that they're still alive in your heart, even though most of them don't feel the same way. You just have to live each and every single day like it's the last day of your life and keep moving forward. In the words of my dad...do not spend your life in sadness, but spend it well with happiness and joy. Do not mourn for your loved ones for they will wait for you to reunite and they'll keep you alive and well. To me, it's just a way to appreciate the life I have and the people I'm around everyday and most often, we take it for granted. As long as I have good friends around me, I already feel like I'm home." Musaki stated.

"Man, I wish I would've come up with something better." Arizona added.

Musaki chuckled softly and said, "You're halfway close to a Bushido-Akio, dude."

Everyone else started looking over pictures and they're wearing the headbands that past Bushido-Akio family members had worn and Musaki knew that this was more than just a box of keepsakes, they're family history that stays with him in his heart.

* * *

Wise words from a young panda, huh? Hazards, weigh in and stay tuned for more!


	62. Things About Musaki

The Hazards learn a few things about Musaki that they never knew about before...from Po, Shifu and the Furious Five.

* * *

Things About Musaki

Takami, Ryo, Skyler, Kiba and most of the other Hazards were all around the Hall of Heroes with Po, Shifu and the Five as they wanted to ask them a simple question.

Takami was the first one to ask Shifu and the others, "What is it about Musaki that got you all interested?"

That question hit them really good and most of them were surprised at the subject that Takami asked and Shifu said, "You mean, how Musaki changed our lives?"

"Yeah, that's it. That's what I should've asked." Takami said, scratching the back of his neck.

Shifu clears his throat in response and he said, "I think Musaki changed all of our lives in the 4 years he's lived with us in the Jade Palace."

Po nodded his head in agreement and he said, "He definitely changed my life in a big way. I always thought that I was the only panda in the Valley of Peace and when I met him at 13, I sorta knew that there was another one like me. Anyways, he came as this shy and timid little cub who first came in the palace and as the years went on...he's more friendly, hardworking, trusting and very dependable when needed. He has moves that no one even thought of doing and some skills that would take the most experienced master years to get it right. He sees me as his big brother and I've never actually had a little brother before and as he grew older and his skills has gotten more awesome, I really look up to him. I believe he's gonna be a great master one day...but at the end of the day, he's still Lil' Saki to me."

Kaizer seemed kinda puzzled about the nickname Po gave him and asked, "What's with that nickname?"

"Who, 'Lil' Saki'? It's a certain nickname that I came up with on his first evening at the Jade Palace because he was little. Now he's...not so little, but I still call him that everyday." Po answered.

Mantis nods his head at that and said, "It never gets old."

"Saki said he always looked up to me and seeing what he's gone through and how he makes himself more stronger...like I said, I look up to him the most. I don't think I've ever met someone so cool in my life. And he doesn't really care about the glory or fame. He never lets it go to his head. He just does what he does and at the end of the day, he's still a regular kid. We've been masters to him, but as he got older, he's like a master to us." Po added.

Faith smiled at this and she said, "That's pretty powerful."

Shifu nods his head as well and he said, "Yes. He has made a good impression and also...a big impact on my own life. At first, I wasn't quite sure about him living in the Jade Palace because with Tai Lung still on my head, I always had that fear of what if it happens again? But after the first couple of months with him here...my worries weren't needed anymore and as he grew older, it went away when he improved more on his kung-fu. Anyone that can do their skills at a young age...surprises me. Musaki is always full of surprises. He looks at me as both master and father...but mostly father. I tend not to get too in over my head because of my mistakes in the past, but he shows me that he's willing to let the past be the past...as it should be. He's honest, earnest, enthusiastic and also humble. It's sort of the qualities for a student who's in my presence."

"Where does that leave us?" asked Monkey.

Shifu looks up at Monkey in response and he said, "Only one or two of the four qualities."

Mantis snickers at that and he said, "You got smoked."

Soon enough, it was Mantis' turn to comment on Musaki and he said, "What can I say about the guy? Obviously, he's far more skilled and well-trained like some of us. But he doesn't really brag about it a lot nor is he arrogant and cocky...like some people..."

After he said that, he took a glare mostly at Monkey, Po and Tigress to sorta gather those examples across and that didn't sit well with all three and Monkey said, "Really?"

"But...he's like a normal kid. Free-spirited, mellow, always happy and joyful...pretty much appreciative, but also hardworking and determined. And he always stays true to himself and never lets anyone change him if some of us tried. That's what I like about him and that's part of why I respect him a lot." Mantis continued.

"And don't forget...he's a heck of a dancer." Monkey pointed out.

That sorta caught Ryo and Kiba's attention and they asked, "Dance?"

"Does he know dubstep?" asked Kiba.

That sorta confused the masters regarding to what Kiba elaborated on dubstep and he said, "It's sorta big where I'm from."

Monkey scratched his chin in response and he said, "About Musaki...he did change my life in ways I never thought. One day, he was this shy panda cub that was a little bit unsure of himself and the next, he's skilled, open and very confident. Doesn't really sweat on the small stuff and he's not a perfect person, but doesn't do perfectionism very well. He said that perfectionism's kinda weird to him. He doesn't just follows anyone's rules, but he makes them...which is also cool. The kid can pretty much do whatever he wants. I know he can do no wrong." Monkey replied.

Skyler smiled at that and said, "Sounds like a cool guy to me."

Viper then chimed in on Musaki to the Hazards and said, "And he's also a gentleman. Though I'm surrounded by guys who are a little bit...unusual, Musaki's the only one that stands out from the others. He's sweet, caring, kind, gentle, very playful and very gentleman-like. But don't let those fool you. He can open a can of whoop-butt when you're not looking. That's how I can figure that with his skills the way he is, he's tough in his own way and his secret weapon...he has a good heart. Everything he does not only comes from his body, but from his heart like he seriously means it."

"You make it sound like you have a crush on him." Po said, with a simple giggle.

Viper blushed a little bit and she said, "He had a crush on me when he was younger. I just thought it was really cute. He often said that I'm his favorite Furious Five member...his one and only. He's kinda like my son and brother all in one."

It was Crane's turn to chime in and he stated, "Well...since Musaki has been in the palace, he amazes me to no end. He's got a spirit that none of us can really keep up with and he's always optimistic and even in the face of something bitter that had happened to his parents years ago and what he went through, he proves that there is a good life after tragedy. And that the past is the past and he always lives like today is the last one. I don't know about you guys, but I think he'll place all other kung-fu masters in second place if he continues on this path and he'll be a very successful kung-fu master in China...while staying the same when we first met him."

Takami was well in awe of the comments that most of the masters has something to say about Musaki and he said, "Sounds like he's a great student."

"Very much so. There's no one in the whole palace that would say a negative word about Musaki." Viper added.

"Except for Tigress." Monkey muttered.

Tigress glared at Monkey for his remarks and she said, "Watch it."

Kaizer then asked Tigress, "How does Musaki change your life?"

Tigress had no idea he would explain her thoughts about him and she then explained, "It barely does. This kid has been accomplished a lot in his life before any of us and I tend to get a little jealous and bitter at him because he's always an overachiever, but not really a perfectionist. Everything good happens to him and it's like...'what am I supposed to do?'. Most times, I fear that everyone's gonna look up to him and praise him more than me...I mean, us...and that everyone will see him as the future of kung-fu."

"Well, isn't that a good thing?" asked Hope.

"To me, it doesn't. I gave him a hard time, but he always gets over it and lets it roll off his back like it's nothing. With what he's gone through...how do you still smile about it? I could tell that he's a lot more stronger than that. It's like...he's his own person and doesn't worry about what other people think, but what he thinks for himself. Me...I always think about what other people think but it never bothers him." Tigress added.

"Tigress and Saki's relationship is sorta dysfunctional. Saki's more assertive and Tigress is more aggressive and Saki always keeps cool under pressure. But often times, Tigress wishes that she could be like Musaki for a day." Viper pointed out.

"But he's very forgiving too. That's what I don't really understand." Tigress added.

"He has a forgiving heart, Tigress. We all know forgiveness can be difficult, but Musaki shows that he's willing to forgive and if we tend to do that, it'll make us better people in the end." Shifu stated.

"Looks like I learned something new about him." Tigress said.

Just then, Musaki came in the Hall of Heroes and found everyone there and said, "Hey, guys. What's going on?"

"We were just talking about you." Mantis replied.

* * *

And that's a big surprise for everyone about Musaki. Pretty cool guy, huh? Hazards, feel free to weigh in if you please! Stay tuned for more!


	63. Meeting the Angel Parents

The Hazards meet Musaki's parents and trust me, it's really awesome!

* * *

Meeting the Angel Parents

One night came across the Peach Tree and Musaki was sitting in the night sky, feeling the wind blow through his fur and he has got his parents on his mind and he just then...a bright light came through and Musaki looks up in the air and he sees two angels coming down and to his surprise...it's his parents.

Musaki lets out a smile as he sees them standing there, floating in the sky and he said, "Hey, mom...dad."

Sakamoto smiled at his son and he said, "Hello, Xing-Fu."

Musaki walks a little closer to both of them and his father held out his paw and he placed it around Musaki's shoulder and as soon as he felt his father's touch, Musaki immediately grabbed it and hugged him tightly as well as his mother did.

"It feels so good to see you guys." Musaki said, softly.

"There is not a day that goes by that we do not think about you, Musaki. I can tell that you're gonna be a good fighter...just like your father." Bao-Yi stated.

Sakamoto chuckled softly and he said, "But really...you can be anything you want to be. I know you are very capabale of being a kung-fu master and that you will do anything to make us proud."

Soon enough, the Hazards were walking by the Peach Tree and to their surprise...they saw Musaki's parents floating in the air and no one had no idea what to make of it.

"Musaki...are they...?" asked Takami, in a whisper.

Musaki nods his head and he turns to his parents and said, "Mom...dad...these are my new friends; Takami, Ryo, Skyler, Faith, Hope, Kiba, Chronos, Zack, Tamaki, Layla and Kaizer."

"Hello all." Sakamoto said.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all." Bao-Yi said, with a bow.

Ryo walks over to both of them and he said, "Same here."

Sakamoto looks over to all of them and he said, "I see Xing-Fu has gained some new friends."

"Xing-Fu?" asked Kiba.

Musaki nodded and he said, "It's my birth name. My dad calls me Xing-Fu and my mom always call me Musaki."

"You all have elemental powers, I assume?" asked Sakamoto.

That seemed to shock all of them and Skyler asked, "How did he know that we have...?"

"Well...I actually don't have elemental abilities." Hope admitted.

Bao-Yi looks at Musaki for a second and she was surprised at how much he's grown and she said, "My, how you have grown into a young man."

"A very wonderful young man that me and your mother always hoped you'd be." Sakamoto added.

"How are things in the Jade Palace?" asked Bao-Yi.

Musaki looks at them and said, "It's better. I was thinking about moving back to Shanghai Secluded Valley when I get older, but I'm not sure about that decision yet."

Most of the Hazards were a little surprised to hear this coming from Musaki and Sakamoto said, "Xing-Fu...Shanghai's a good home to come back to, but the Valley of Peace will always be a home you can come back to. Just do whatever your heart tells you to do and it'll go from there."

"I will." Musaki said.

Sakamoto nods his head and he said, "Me and your mother are gonna go now."

"Already?" asked Musaki.

"Yes. But we will always be in your heart...forever and always."

Bao-Yi then looks up at all of the Hazards and said to some of them, "I know that most of your parents are so proud of you and will be looking out for you."

"It is an honor to have met you all." Sakamoto said.

Takami smiles at this and said, "It's an honor to meet you guys as well."

Just then, they descended up to the skies and the white light faded back into the darkness and all of the Hazards were really amazed to see what just happened and Faith said, "Were they really here?"

Musaki looks up at the sky and he lets out a smile and responded, "Yes...they were."

* * *

Hazards, what do you think of Musaki's parents? Hope ya enjoyed!


	64. Mistakes Made

This is a little idea that I came up with and this is a what if Max made a little mistake and just hid from everyone while everyone's looking for him. This is the result.

* * *

Mistakes Made

One afternoon in the Jade Palace, Max was hiding in one of the rooms in the barracks, really scared and guilty after what he had accidently done and he looked at Shifu's robe that's been a little ripped up and torn and he felt like he was gonna get in big trouble if he told someone about it or if someone found out for themselves.

"I am so dead." Max said, fearfully.

Meanwhile, most of the Hazards, along with Musaki and Arizona were going all across the palace looking for Max and Arizona was the most worried out of all the others for him. Arizona had searched desperately for him but to no avail. Takami sensed the wolf's major concern growing and he went to him and said, "Zona, it's gonna be okay. We'll find him."

Arizona groans in a worried tone and he said, "Max has never gone missing before. I mean, this isn't like him at all."

"Has he ever ran away before?" asked Takami.

"Never in his whole life. We've been separated once and I can't go through that again." Arizona answered.

Kiba then asks Arizona, "Did you guys get into a little spat?"

"A spat?" asked Arizona.

"It means a fight." Ryo finished.

Arizona angrily glared at Ryo for making that assumption and he said, "I know what spat means. And no, we have never been in a spat!"

Ryo knew he sorta got the message and said, "No need to yell."

"Guys, let's just calm down, all right? We need to look for my cuz." Musaki said.

Skyler, Faith, Layla, Kaizer and Hope met them all up at the Hall of Heroes and Arizona asked, "Any sign?"

"Nah. We looked at the Peach Tree, the Training Hall and the courtyard. We even looked up at Shifu's Dragon Grotto. No Max anywhere." Hope explained.

At this point, Arizona starts getting really scared for him and he placed his paws over his head and to his face, feeling absolutely stressed out and he said, "Where could he be?"

"Is there one place we haven't checked?" asked Takami.

"The barracks?" asked Kiba.

Suddenly, it all hit them...Max could be in the student barracks and Ryo then kissed Kiba on the cheek and said, "You're a genius!"

Skyler seemed a little bit surprised that Ryo did that and she said to him, "Did you just...?"

"We'll save that for later. For now, we gotta find Max there!" Arizona exclaimed.

With no time, all of them set forward all the way over to the student barracks to find Max. Takami looks at the others and said, "Check every room."

As followed, the Hazards, Musaki and Arizona went inside each and every room possible to find Max there and as minutes dragged on, it feels like a freaking eternity for them and Arizona became super-duper desperate to look for Max and he feels like he's almost about to lose his mind if he doesn't appear and soon enough, he opens the door to one room and found nothing.

Totally unaware that Max was hiding under the mat of that room, feeling really, really scared.

Arizona leaned over to that door and groans in frustration and said, "We'll never find him. He's freaking gone!"

He then angrily pounded his fist through the door, which he accidently slid open and fell down to the ground and the grey wolf groans heavily and gets himself up...but then he spots a little black and white stripe figure underneath the mat and when he looks closer...

"Max?"

"Uh...yeah?" asked Max.

That was all he had to hear and he brought him out of there with a huge hug and then he said, "Where were you?! You had me worried sick about you!"

"I'm sorry. I was...hiding here." Max answered, in a guilty tone.

Through he was relieved, Arizona could quickly tell from the sound of his voice that he was a little guilty about something and he said, "Hiding from what?"

Max was really scared to tell Arizona about this and he said, "You don't wanna know."

"Hey, you know you can tell me." Arizona said.

Before Max could even do so, Musaki and the rest of the Hazards were coming in the room and felt relieved that Max is found and is okay. Musaki looked at him and said, "I'm so glad I found you! You like...nearly scared us to death."

"Have you been here the whole time?" asked Faith.

"Uh-huh." Max replied.

Kiba notices something underneath the mat and when he slowly reaches in and grabs it, he finds a torn robe underneath it and he asked, "Is that Shifu's?"

Max looked at it and he felt a twinge of fear setting inside of him and asked, "Yeah."

"Why's it all torn up?" asked Ryo.

"It was an accident." Max replied.

Arizona wanted to hear what transpired this accident to cause Max from hiding and he said, "Why don't you tell me all about it?"

"I'd...rather not." Max said, in a timid voice.

"Why not?"

"Because Shifu will be mad at me." Max replied.

Faith looks over at Max and she puts her paw around his shoulder and tells her, "You can always tell us the truth no matter what it is...especially to Shifu."

Max was afraid of this and he took a deep breath and said, "Okay. I found this robe laying around the floor of the barracks, so I wanted to find out who it belongs to and I saw that it had 'Shifu' written on it and I thought that maybe he might need it. So I was gonna go over to him, but my claw got stuck and I tried to let go of it, but all it did was make the robe torn and messed up."

"So...in other words, you ripped Shifu's robe by accident?" asked Layla.

"I didn't mean to. Shifu's gonna hate me for what I did." Max said, sadly.

Takami could see where this is coming from and he went over to Max's level and he said, "Shifu's not gonna be mad at you. Not if you tell him what really happened."

Max was really scared about this and he said, "I can't. I don't really know if I can."

"Listen, I know what it feels like when you're scared and you wanna run away from this problem or try to hide it in hopes that it'll go away, but it's not the answer to your problem." Takami said.

"I think what Takami's saying is that the only way to take care of it is to tell Shifu about it. He'll understand." Arizona stated.

"Yeah, even if it means that he'll be really mad and probably hate you for the rest of his life." Ryo added, but then received a little thundershock in the butt from Skyler.

That sorta made Max want to not tell Shifu even more because of how he'll react to it in the wrong way and Faith said, "Ignore what he said. Max, just try. You know, we all mistakes. It happens to the best of us and sometimes, we have to understand that even when you're scared to, you have to take responsibility for it."

Max lets out a deep sigh as he thought about it and he then lowers his head down and asked, "Can you all come with me? I don't wanna face him on my own."

Arizona puts his paw on his shoulder and said, "Of course."

They all walked off the room and headed their way to the Hall of Heroes and as they entered, they see Shifu, Po and the Five standing in and Max was about to back out, but Kaizer encourages him to tell Shifu the truth instead of hiding it and suddenly, Shifu turns around and he asked them, "Did you find Max?"

"Yeah, turns out he was hiding in one of the barracks." Takami replied.

Shifu stroked his beard and responded, "That's good."

"Also...Max actually has something to tell you." Arizona stated.

Arizona looks at Max for a second and he motions him to come out behind his wolf brother to face Shifu, so he walks slowly towards him and Shifu could see the look on this tiger cub's face and he asked, "What is it, Max?"

Max then slowly shows Shifu his old robe and the reaction of the grandmaster's face was full of distraught and shock as he sees that it was ripped and a little torn and he said, "My old robe...what happened to it?"

The other kung-fu masters were in shock about the condition of this robe and Max slowly hung his head down and looked at the ground instead of facing Shifu and he said, "I did it. I...tore it up by accident."

Shifu stood there stunned at this and he asked, "You ripped it?"

"I didn't mean to rip it up." Max said, even more guiltier.

Arizona then told Shifu, "He said he was gonna give it to you when he found it, but his claw got stuck on something and it sorta ripped up the way it was. He was...kinda too scared to tell you."

"That's why I hid. Because I was afraid that you'd yell at me if you found out." Max replied.

"So...let me get this straight. You found one of my robes and wanted to give it to me, but then your claw got stuck on it and you tried to get it out, but the fabric was ripped and torn apart." Shifu said, to sorta put the pieces together."

"Uh-huh. I'm really, really, really sorry." Max said, in a sad tone.

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Max. You ripped up Master Shifu's robe!" Tigress shouted, out of nowhere.

"It was an accident." Max stated.

"There are no accidents! Do you know how stupid you were?" Tigress growled.

Arizona didn't take that lightly and he said, "You think he wanted to rip up something of Shifu's?! He said it was an accident, so don't call him stupid!"

"Well, that's what his actions were! He probably just did it on purpose!" Tigress growled.

That of course set Arizona off and what she said didn't make any sense at all and he came to her and said, "How can something he didn't mean to do was done intentionally? You're taking this way out of porportion!"

Tigress then looked at Max and she said to him, "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Max! Apology is not accepted and never will be accepted, you little menace!"

"I said I was sorry!" Max said, with tears coming out of his eyes.

"Forget about sorry! You're nothing but just a little monster! That's all you are! Just a no-good little monster!" Tigress growled, in rage.

All of them gasped in shock that Tigress used the same term that the orphans called her when she was an orphan and that obviously hurt Max's feelings and that sent Arizona to the edge and he said, "Watch it! He is not a monster! And now you've gone too far!"

"Enough!" Shifu shouted.

Max felt like maybe he shouldn't have told him the truth because he was afraid that it'd be like this and he said, "I said I'm sorry! Maybe telling you the truth was a mistake. I didn't mean to mess everything up! If I wasn't here, you'd be happy. And Tigress, you're nothing but a bully! But you don't have to worry, because I'm never coming here again!"

Max ran out of the Hall of Heroes with tears in his eyes, but Shifu immediately stopped him and told him to come over here and when Max did come up to Shifu, he tells him, "Is that the reason why you hid? Because you thought I was gonna be mad at you?"

Max slowly nodded his head and Shifu blinked his eyes in surprise at this and the grandmaster told him, "I am a little disappointed with this robe, though...but I'm not mad at you."

"You're not?" asked Max.

"You're not?" asked Tigress, in disbelief.

Max seemed a little confused about it and asked, "Why not?"

Shifu looks over at the white tiger cub and he said, "Because...you told me the truth of what had happened. And sometimes, accidents do happen and you're no different."

"But I don't understand. I messed up your robe and you didn't hate me for it." Max added.

"Maximus Bushido-Akio...I do not hate you. You made one little mistake and even though you were scared to tell me, I'm not that upset that you told me what happened."

"Really?" asked Max, as he tried to keep his composure.

"Yes. It took a lot of bravery for you to do that and it shows. That's good enough for me." Shifu added.

Max looked at Shifu in the eye and he asked, "So, you're not mad?"

"Of course not. Whatever it is you want to tell me, just tell me. I will not get mad at you." Shifu said, smiling.

"Thank you." Max said, then gives Shifu a hug.

Shifu had no idea that Max was gonna do that, but he hugged him back anyway and when they let go, Shifu said, "Do not be afraid of me if you do something wrong or if you wanna tell me something. I'll listen and I'll always understand...just as the rest of my students would do."

"Anything?" asked Max.

"Yes, anything."

Arizona chuckled at this and he said, "See, Maxie? What did I tell ya? Telling the truth is pretty hard, but it'll make you feel better after that."

"That's right, Arizona." Shifu agreed.

Max nodded and he said, "Well...there is something I do want to tell you."

"Which is...?" asked Shifu.

"I heard Tigress ask Po that she wanted to sleep in Po's room while I was spending the night here." Max added.

All of the masters gasped in reaction to that and that made Tigress twitch her eye in response and Arizona asked, "When was that?"

"A month and a half ago." Max replied.

Takami looked at Tigress in surprise and didn't think that she would sleep with the Dragon Warrior and he said, "Tigress, you never told me that you two had slept together."

"Neither did I." Shifu said, turning to Tigress in a stern look.

Tigress growled at Max in response and said, "You little bigmouth."

* * *

Pretty dramatic and intense, huh? Forgive me if I made Tigress just a little too angry. Hazards, any rebuttals? We got more coming up!


	65. No Worries

This is a little continuation from the last one-shot and that everyone's getting a chance to take credit for Max telling the truth the way he did.

* * *

No Worries

Hours after this, Max was sitting at the Peach Tree, just thinking things over and it feels as if there was a heavy load of burden lifted from him after what had happened earlier that day that he told Shifu that he accidently ruined his robe and for him to be understanding, it definitely made him feel relieved.

Soon enough, Arizona came walking in and he sees Max there and he said, "Hi."

"Hi." Max replied.

Arizona sat down next to him on the tree and he then turned to Max and he said, "How long were you hiding in that room?"

Max figured that Arizona asked him about why he was hiding and he answered, "Two hours after I accidently messed up Shifu's robe."

"Do you know how worried I was?" asked Arizona.

Max didn't really realize that his wolf brother was crazy worried for Max and he said, "I'm sorry."

Arizona patted his head softly and he said, "Well, I'm just glad you're okay. Because I thought you'd be missing, but that you were here the whole time...I was pretty much relieved."

Max responded by hugging onto Arizona's left waist and started purring softly and Arizona lets out a small chuckle and said, "I love you, kiddo."

"I love you too, Arizona." Max said, happily.

Then, Max looks up at him and said, "And thank you."

Arizona looks down on his brother and asked, "For what?"

"Encouraging me to tell Shifu the truth and for sticking up for me." Max replied.

"It was nothing to it. I will always have your back, Max. Never forget that I'll always be here for you, even if you get older." Arizona added.

Later on, Arizona and Max were heading their way back to the Hall of Heroes and as they came in, Shifu, Po and the Five were standing there and as they faced him, Shifu said to Max, "Maximus...my students have a few words for you."

Po was the first one to come up to Max and he got down to his level and said, "It took a lot of guts to tell Shifu the truth. I understand how you feel about being scared to tell someone the truth. I usually do it a lot with my dad and several times here because you had this feeling that you'll get in big trouble. I'd always point blame at someone to get myself out of it...but keep up the honesty, little guy. And trust me, there are a lot of crazy things I've done here that no one else knows about."

"Such as...?" asked Shifu, in a stern voice.

Po realized that he had told on himself in front of Max and he turned to him and said, "I'll tell you when you're much older."

Viper went ahead next and she told him, "I understand it was hard for you to tell the truth about your mistakes. Some of us here has made quite several mistakes, but we tend to learn from them. But whatever you have on your mind, please tell us. Don't be afraid to do so because we will understand completely."

Crane's next and he told him, "Honesty is very important in the Jade Palace. We're always expected to tell the truth, no matter what the circumstances are. There's no shame in making mistakes, Max. Even the best and strongest kung-fu masters make mistakes, but that doesn't make us bad people. It just means that we have to try harder. We're all a work in progress and it's okay to be a little...imperfect. It doesn't change anything from who you are inside."

Monkey then went up to him and he said, "If that was me at your age, I would've hidden it or let someone else take the fall...just to stay out of trouble. But all it would do is bring in more trouble anyway. Use the same good judgment you used today. And I'm glad that Arizona was one to help you out with that. Nobody's perfect anyway. But...hey, what are you gonna do? Do not be afraid to talk with us if something's on your mind. We'll always listen."

Mantis then hopped on Max's shoulder and said, "Yeah, what he said. You're a good kid, Max. Never forget that and I believe that you'll be someone when you grow up."

Mantis then hopped off of Max's shoulder and back into Monkey's and then Tigress went to him and already the tiger cub was a little nervous because of what had happened earlier and she kneeled down to his level and said, "I didn't really think you had it in you to admit your mistakes the way you did. But you did. And what I said...I was out of line."

"Big mistake." Max added.

"And I probably shouldn't have called you stupid earlier that day over Shifu's robe." Tigress continued.

"Bigger mistake."

"And I should've handled it differently instead of losing my self-control."

"Biggest mistake."

"And I was wrong to call you a monster. I just couldn't believe that I'm turning into one of those people that used to call me that."

"Ginormous mistake."

Tigress was getting a little bit annoyed with Max repeating 'mistakes' growing in different sizes that she made and she said, "And I really hope you forgive me for this."

Max thought about it for a second and he said, "Okay."

Nothing big in return and she received an 'okay' from Max and Tigress asked, "That's all you're giving me?"

"Oh, sorry. Um...I forgive you for acting like a really fat jerk." Max added.

Tigress closed her eyes after making that comment and then, she opened them again and she said, "A fat jerk?"

"Duh..."

Tigress chuckled amusedly at what Max said and she said, "I guess I deserved that 'duh'. I'm really sorry, Max. I'm still struggling with kids. I don't want to hurt their feelings or really harm them. That's sorta why I didn't want to be near them...but it doesn't mean that I would never make their lives miserable. I'm trying my best to be good with them and with Po's help, I need it more than anything."

Max smiled and said, "You will. You have to believe in yourself instead of saying you'll never be good at this. That's just a way of giving up on yourself and you have to keep going, no matter what. If you give up, what's that gonna accomplish?"

Tigress was surprised that Max has got some wisdom in him at an early age and Arizona said, "Man, you learn a lot from your dad, huh?"

"And my grandpa." Max added.

Tigress then thought about this and she said, "I guess you're right. I have to try my best not to lose my temper around them because I'd hurt them."

"Kinda like when you tied up Zan in one of the training clubs." Po pointed out.

Shifu looked up at Tigress in a shocked manner and asked, "You did what?"

"I didn't know what I was thinking then." Tigress added.

Soon enough, the other Hazards walked in and they all got together as they saw Max standing there and Takami said, "Hey, guys. What's going on?"

Shifu clears his throat and said, "We're all commending Max to keep up being honest and if he has someone to talk to, he should come to us."

"That's cool." Ryo added.

"Hey, Shifu...we were all wondering if we could train Max a little bit of kung-fu someday." Faith suggested.

Arizona liked that suggestion and he said, "Yeah, that's a great idea."

"I don't see why not." Shifu replied.

"Cool!"

Max smiled at this and then he turned to Tigress and he stuck out his paw, offering a little peace offering between them and asked, "Are we friends now?"

Tigress looked up at him and she smiled and shook his paw and said, "Yeah, we're friends."

* * *

Hopefully, Tigress and Max will be friends rather than frenemies and the Hazards would make great trainers for Max rather than being stuck with Tigress. Weigh in and stick around for more!


	66. Meeting Saori Again

And Max meets Saori again.

* * *

Meeting Saori Again

Another sunny day at the Valley of Peace and Max is having lunch with Arizona at Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop along with Kiba and Ryo and Arizona could not believe how much Ryo is eating a whole lot of noodles and dumplings and Arizona asked, "Whatever happened to table manners?"

"That went out of the door the minute I ate some noodles." Ryo replied, still slurping.

Kiba then looks up at Max and he asked, "Want some of my dumplings, little guy?"

"Sure." Max replied.

Kiba kindly obliged to share some of Kiba's dumplings with Max and the white cub told the wolfdog, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Kiba added.

Max began eating a few dumplings and as he began eating them, he saw that little white tigress sitting at the table behind him and he was surprised that she was there. Sooner or later, he turned back to the table and resumed eating and Arizona figued something was up with him.

"Hey, Maxie...what's going on?" asked Arizona.

"Nothing." Max replied.

But that 'nothing' tapped on his shoulder and by the second he turned around, there she was...standing right behind him and she said, "Hi, Max."

Max was surprised that she remembered his name and he said, "Hi, Saori."

Arizona was definitely surprised that Saori was here and he said, "Hey, you're the girl that got almost robbed by those stupid croc bandits, were you?"

"Yeah. I'm surprised that you're here, Max." Saori replied.

"Me too."

Just then, they seek another figure; a white wolf, 20 years of age, about 6'2, 170 pounds and wears a silver vest with long sleeves, black silk pants, a medallion below the shirt and painted red shades below the eyes; standing in front of them and he looks down on his sister and asked, "You bothering these people?"

"No, big brother. One of them actually saved my life." Saori explained.

"Which one?"

Max then raised his paw for tat answer and he said, "I sorta...saved her from some croc bandits."

The white wolf's reaction was a little surprising...but completely amazed by this and he said to Max, "Thanks a million. Those idiot croc bandits have no regard for being bandits. They're more like...amateur morons."

Arizona chuckled in response and said, "I agree."

"My name's Akashi Okami."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Arizona and this is my wolf brother Max and my friends; Kiba and Ryo." Arizona said, as he greets them one by one.

"Hey." Kiba said.

"What's up?" Ryo added.

Akashi chuckled in response and he said to them, "Nice to meet you guys."

"You too." Arizona added.

"You new here in the Valley of Peace?" asked Kiba.

Akashi then said, "Sort of. But I lived here most of my life...not by that much."

"Interesting. So...what do we want to know about you?" asked Arizona.

Akashi blinked in response and he wasn't really sure how to answer that question, especially to some that he just met and he said, "I think it's best you don't know."

"That bad, huh?" asked Arizona.

Akashi nodded his head in response and Max then said, "It's okay if you don't tell us."

Saori went over to Max and she gave him something for saving her and to his surprise, she gave Max a little flower. Max smiled at this and said, "Thanks. What for?"

"For saving me. I figured that I might give you something in return...and you're kinda cute." Saori added.

Arizona widened his eyes with excitement while Ryo lets out a slight chuckle and Kiba lets out the widest grin he ever made and Max only blushed a little bit and he said, "Thanks."

"Come on, sis. We should get going. Nice meeting you all again." Akashi said, as he was about to leave.

"Nice meeting you too." Arizona added.

Saori looks at Max for a sec and she said, "Bye, Max."

"Bye..." Max said.

Just then, Kiba then howled in excitement for Max, which made everyone in the noodle shop turn to him and Ryo looks up at him and asked, "Really?"

"What? Max is turning into a ladies' man." Kiba stated.

Arizona lets out a deep sigh after that statement and he told Max, "You'll know about that part when you get older."

* * *

Saori and Akashi are owned by The Master of Stories. Hazards, weigh in please! Thanks, Master of Stories! Stick around for more!


	67. Meeting Reiko Again

And we meet Mako's girlfriend again!

* * *

Meeting Reiko Again

One day at the Jade Palace, Max and Arizona were walking around the Hall of Heroes for a second and when they heard a knock on the door, they were kinda curious to see who's there and as soon as Arizona answered, to his surprise...it was Max's dad's girlfriend.

"Reiko...what a surprise." Arizona said.

Reiko nods her head in response and she said, "Nice to meet you again, Arizona."

"How'd you know where the Jade Palace was?" asked Arizona.

"Well...each time I walk in the village, I see this big temple showing above the air and I knew what that place was anyway, but everyone keeps saying that there are kung-fu masters living there." Reiko added.

"That's...actually cool." Arizona replied.

Reiko then clears her throat and she said, "Anyways, I was sent here by Mako to pick up Max."

"Mako made it back home?" asked Arizona.

"Yep."

Just then, Max popped out from behind and he saw Reiko standing there in front of him and she said, "Hi, sweetie."

"Hi, Miss Reiko." Max replied.

Reiko chuckles at that formal calling and then she got down to his level and she told him, "Your father has just came back and asked me to take you back home."

That pretty much made Max's day better when he found out that his adopted dad's back home with that new adopted kid he mentioned weeks prior and he said, "Okay."

Arizona kneeled down to him and said, "It's been a lot of fun having you, buddy. No doubt we'll have more fun the next time you visit."

Just then, Kiba, Takami, Ryo and Faith came by the Hall of Heroes and when they arrived, they saw Reiko standing in front of the door and when the female panda looks up, she said, "Hello."

"Hi there." Takami replied.

Arizona looks behind and sees the Hazards coming in and he said, "Guys...this is my tiger brother's dad's girlfriend...Reiko. She came to take Max back home. Reiko, this is Ryo, Takami, Kiba and Faith...they're also friends with Max."

"Nice to meet you all." Reiko said.

"You too." Faith replied.

Max walks over to most of the Hazards and he said to them, "I had a lot of fun with you guys. Thanks a million."

"Anytime, little guy." Takami said.

Kiba immediately grabbed Max and pulled him into a huge hug, exclaiming, "Don't go! Can't you just stay one more day?"

Max was starting choke a little bit and he said, "Not...breathing..."

Kiba lets go of him and he said, "Sorry."

Faith blinked her eyes at this and then, she turned to Max and said to her, "Come back and see us, okay?"

Max smiled and said, "Don't I always?"

"Good point."

Then, Max went out of the door of the Jade Palace, but not before giving Arizona a hug before he went and after that, he went with Reiko back to Mako's place and as he watched them go, Kiba said, "I miss him already."

Ryo scoffs at this and said, "You'll see him tomorrow."

"Oh...gotcha."

* * *

Surprised that Mako has a girlfriend? Well, I decided to come up with a love interest for Mako that's also a single parent too. Hazards, weigh in please and we got more coming up!


	68. What Makes You Mad

This is the first questionnaire asking game that Max is involved in.

* * *

What Makes You Mad

One day at the barracks, Max was sitting around with Musaki, Arizona and most of the Hazards and Max looks at all of them and he asked, "Can I ask you guys a question?"

"Sure, hit us up." Kiba replied.

"I kinda wanted to ask you guys about what sort of things that...makes you mad." Max answered.

Most of them were a little surprised that Max would ask something like that, but not that much because it was a little bit easier for them. Kaizer then asked, "Can you start us off?"

"Okay. What makes me mad...is that some people call me short and puny and that I'm 'too small'. I'm not that little. I'm only a little bigger." Max answered.

Faith stares at Max in response and she told him, "Someday, you'll grow bigger than some of us."

"Except Po." Ryo added.

Skyler hits him in the hand after hearing that and she said, "Don't tease the cub."

Arizona smiled at Max and he told him, "In a few years, you'll be a lot bigger than us. You just have to wait."

"I'll try." Max said.

"Now, here's a few things that makes me mad; watching kids suffer when someone tells me there's nothing they can do, someone threatening my tiger brother's life and also...people getting into my personal business." Arizona replied.

"That's sorta like me in a lot of ways." Skyler commented.

"Well, growing up...I used to sit around Dai Ling's tower, watching little kids suffer in the streets or in their homes and I would often hear their screams every night and I always felt helpless every year that I didn't do anything thanks to Dai Ling. I had always promised myself that if I ever had a chance to get out of there, I would protect those kids...like keep them safe and give my life for them. Now...Max is one example because I'd do anything for him. I couldn't imagine what would happen if something happened to him." Arizona admitted.

Takami was definitely surprised at Arizona's commitment to put his life on the line for random kids and help them if they need it and he said, "You kinda inspire me to do the same thing."

"Thanks."

Musaki then had his turn to say what makes him mad and he said, "All right...here's what makes me mad; seeing bullies teasing innocent kids, getting in the middle of Tigress' arguments and also getting in fights with anyone. I mean...is it really worth getting the last word? In 4 years, I had to put up with Tigress' fury and it's like she wants to be an overachiever on steroids and with her anger. I mean, what I learned for myself is that I have to pick my own battles and always handle it in a more mature and calm way. Otherwise, it'll be a screaming fest and both of us would lose. I hate arguments more than anything. But other than that...what makes me mad is people being perfect, pretending like they're something they're not to follow what everyone else is doing and be liked for that instead of who they really are. It's not gonna get them anywhere."

"Man, Musaki...you've made that really clear." Kiba added.

"Oh, completely." Musaki answered.

Takami clears his throat and he said, "Guess it's my turn; what makes me mad the most is being caught in the middle of Ryo and Skyler's arguments. So...I could relate to you on this one, Musaki. Neither wants to pick their own battles because they just cut straight to the bickering."

Skyler turned to Takami in response that she was a little bit surprised that this is how Takami felt and she said, "We didn't know that."

"I don't choose sides, you guys. I own choose my own." Takami replied.

Skyler then said to Max, "Well...what makes me mad the most...is Ryo acting like a man-puppy."

Ryo scoffs at this and took that as an offense and he said, "Well...what makes me mad is Skyler being a jerk."

Arizona lets out an angry glare as he lets out a low growl directed at Skyler and Ryo and he said, "And you know what else makes me mad? Seeing you two argue in front of my tiger brother."

Skyler and Ryo looked up at Max, in which became frightened and Skyler said to him, "We're sorry, Max."

"Yeah, me too." Ryo added.

Hope then thinks of something, but nothing really comes out of the blue and he said, "I have nothing that makes me mad, actually."

"Nothing?" asked Max.

"Nope. Nothing at all."

Max understands it well and then, he turns to Faith and he asked her, "What makes you mad, Faith?"

"Well...what makes me mad the most is seeing some of my friends hurt or when people pull pranks on me." Faith said, then turns to Ryo and Kiba, letting out an angry growl at them.

Both wolves knew that Faith was a little ticked at them for their pranking her and Kiba chuckled softly at this and said, "We didn't think you'd be serious."

"Yeah, when you two switched my underwear to yours one morning." Faith said, with a growl.

Ryo clears his throat and said, "I'd like to point out that it was originally gonna be for Skyler."

Skyler looks up at him and she said, "If it was, you would've got your tail chopped off."

Soon enough, Kaizer had his turn to answer Max's question and he said, "What makes me mad the most is a certain someone asking me about my personal life in times when I don't answer...but mostly, just people thinking I might go back to who I used to be. Those days are over now."

Kiba then rose his paw for a turn at this and he said, "What makes me a little mad the most is having to deal with wolves being divided in separate packs. We're all the same species...whether you're an Alpha, Omega, Bata, Timberwolf...does it really matter? Instead of fighting each other, we might as well stand together as one and howl at the moon. The stereotypes are getting old for me, personally. But just being called 'Alpha' gets on my nerves a lot."

Layla was the next one to call and she said, "What makes me mad is someone threatening my friends and also Takami. I'd give my life for them at all costs."

"Aw...that's sweet." Hope said.

Max gots his answer and he said, "Well...those are a lot of things to be mad about."

* * *

Well, you got the answers to that. So...what sort of things makes you mad? Hazards, weigh in and stick around for more!


	69. Arizona vs Kaizer

Let's see if Arizona can take down Kaizer in a sparring match.

* * *

Arizona vs. Kaizer

At the training hall, Kaizer was doing some training on his own...just training as hard as he would go, which is just how he really likes it. He punched out the dummy multiple times, kicked through the gauntlets, dodged the flames and did an aerial flip all the way back to the other areas of the training hall...barely even breaking a sweat.

"Impressive."

Kaizer turns around and he sees Arizona standing there and he asked, "What brings you here?"

"Got some time for a little one-on-one?" asked Arizona.

"One-on-one?" asked Kaizer, confusedly.

Arizona smirks in response to that and he added, "Me kicking your butt."

Kaizer quickly got what he was saying and responded with a single growl of challenge and he said, "Your butt's gonna be kicked by me. And yes, I accept the challenge."

Soon enough, Arizona and Kaizer shared glares at each other as they were ready for this training sparring session and Kaizer went ahead to charge him first and he quickly threw major punches and kicks at him, but Arizona dodges all of those shots and the grey wolf completely fought back by kicking him in the ankle, making Kaizer trip.

Kaizer gets himself back up and does another basic stance and kicks Arizona straight in the shin, but even that didn't really deter him at all as he gains more energy to punch and slam down Kaizer and he got down on the floor and kicked him in the face while spinning around several times.

Arizona got back on the ground with a single flip and he was gonna leap over to grab Kaizer, but the white tiger already grabbed him by the wrist and flipped him down and landed on the ground hard.

Kaizer chuckled softly and said, "Who's your kitty?"

Arizona grunts as he got himself up and he replied, "Still you, because this dog will kick kitty's butt."

Kaizer growled in response and continued on charging at him and slamming him down as hard as he could, but Arizona knew when to keep cool under pressure in a tense fight as this and continued to give him everything he's gotten.

"I'm surprised you haven't given up." Kaizer added.

Arizona slid underneath Kaizer's legs and got behind him, kicking him straight to the head and to the shin and his response, "I've learned this much...always fight no matter how many times you fall back down."

"I'll keep that in mind." Kaizer said.

It doesn't seem like both of them are gonna give up soon and they kept on sparring with each other and Arizona went ahead and grabbed ahold of Kaizer's tail with a single yank...which really didn't sit well with Kaizer and he unsheathed his claws and planned to scratch him, but Arizona jumps up and lands back down on the ground further from Kaizer.

"You're mine now." Kaizer stated.

"Come get me...if you can." Arizona stated.

Kaizer then runs over to him, but Arizona jumps up and he spins around and kicks him in the jaw and sends him flying through the wall and falls back down to the ground.

Arizona starts panting heavily and he walks over to see if Kaizer's been defeated, when unbeknownst to the grey wolf, Kaizer slowly shifts his eye to Arizona and he quickly grabbed him by the paw and slammed him to the ground and then pins him down.

"That's for yanking my tail." Kaizer added.

"Just be lucky I didn't yank another part of you." Arizona pointed out.

Kaizer panted heavily and then he gathered himself some time to cool down and said, "Great fighting skills."

"Yours too." Arizona agreed.

"Wanna call a draw?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Kaizer lets go of Arizona's shoulders and he offered his paw to help Arizona up and without hesitation, Arizona accepted as he grabbed his paw to help him up and he said, "I bet Max would kick my butt when he gets older."

"I've been thinking the same thing too." Kaizer stated.

Both of them walked out of the training hall, knowing that the victory goes to both of them based on their dtermination and also fighting skills, but the bigger prize is actually friendship.

* * *

How awesome was that? Kaizer, the spotlight's on you, dude! And stick around for more!


	70. Meeting the New Brother

Meet the new addition of Mako's family...and let's just say he's a brute.

* * *

Meeting the New Brother

At the Jade Palace, Arizona was standing in the front of the palace doors waiting for Musaki and Max to come out and head over to Mako's place to see who's this new adopted brother and the wait is making the grey wolf very, very anxious inside of him because he's not sure what he looks like. Max has mentioned that he does have anger problems which sorta adds to the nervousness like he could either be Tigress mad...like really aggressive, hostile or out of his freaking mind or if he's violent and stuff.

Soon enough, he seeks Ryo walking across the front of the palace and he said, "Hey, Ryo."

"Sup, Arizona?" Ryo said, as he gave him a fist bump.

"I needed that." Arizona added.

Ryo's ears perked up a little bit after Arizona made that little statement and he asked, "What for?"

"Remember that new adopted brother Max was telling me about? The one that said that has anger problems?" Arizona asked.

Ryo then recalled that certain reason why Max mentioned that to the others of his staying in the Jade Palace and that thought sent a little bit of shivers down his furry spine and he said, "Oh, right."

"Yeah. We're all about to go up to Mako's house and meet him...although I'm starting to get a little scared just thinking about it." Arizona admitted.

"I'm sure that this kid's...looking for some attention. Just...not in the right ways." Ryo said, hoping to brighten the mood a little.

Arizona tried to shake this nervousness out of his head and wanted to just stay calm and positive through this and he said, "I don't know..."

Just then, Musaki and Max came out of the palace doors and Max asked, "You guys ready?"

"Ready for what?"

They then noticed the other Hazards walking through the steps where they found the others and Musaki immediately told them, "We're gonna go meet my new cousin."

Tamaki became extremely wide eyed and a little shocked to hear that there's another new cousin added in the family and he asked, "How many more kids your uncle will take in?"

"With that amount of kids, they're gonna need a bigger house." Takami added.

Musaki rolled his eyes at them for their comments and he told them, "Look, this new kid...Max has told me that he has some anger problems. Something a little Tigress like, but not fully hardcore. Just violent and aggressive...mad at the world thing."

Just hearing it made Faith a little bit afraid and she slowly bit her lower lip in response and Kaizer noticed that look on her face and he said, "You okay?"

Faith laughs nervously and replied, "A little nervous, that's all."

Musaki clears his throat and said, "Shall we?"

* * *

Uncle Mako's place

As soon as they reached the village, they made their way to Mako's house and when they arrived, they see Cody, Logan, Bang and Samurai standing there on the porch waiting for them to show up. Logan was the first one to notice and said, "Whoa...big entourage here."

"Here we are, guys." Musaki said, as they stepped in.

Musaki came over and gave all four of his cousins a simple fist bump and they did the same for Arizona as well and Bang looks up at the Hazards and asked, "Who are they?"

"Guys, these are our friends; Takami, Ryo, Skyler, Kiba, Hope, Faith, Kaizer, Tamaki and Layla." Musaki replied.

"Hello." Takami said.

"Nice to meet all of you." Skyler added.

Bang waves at all of them and he said, "Welcome to our house of craziness."

"But often called, the house for free-for-alls." Logan added.

Cody clears his throat and nudged on Logan's shoulder, informing him to cut it out and he turned to the others and said, "So...you guys wanna meet our new member of the house?"

"Yeah, sure." Arizona answered.

The other Hazards nodded their head in agreement and as Cody enters them in the room, he turns to everyone and said, "Okay...before I introduce you guys to him, there's something you should know: he has severe anger problems."

"How severe?" asked Ryo.

"Violent. He's from the meanest and sometimes...desperate parts of Southern China. He was a streetfighter, just fighting everyone and anything." Cody replied.

Max then tells the others, "And he's not used to living here...yet. But we're doing what we can to make sure he's okay here and maybe he wouldn't be mad at us."

Before they could come upstairs, they saw him come downstairs; white wolfdog hybrid, between 16 or 17 years of age, stands at 6'2, weighs at 178 pounds, wearing a ripped orange/red sleeveless vest, some dirty, ripped grey sweatpants and has a couple of scars on parts of his face and a tattoo of a chinese symbol on his forehead; and stared at everyone here. Musaki widened his eyes a little bit because he had no idea how big this dude was and Arizona felt the same way as well and he didn't know what to say.

"Musaki...this is your new cousin; Sage Kagi." Cody said.

Musaki did his best to be friendly to this guy and he said, "Hey, Sage. I'm Musaki...and this is my friend and also new cousin...Li-Xiao Arizona."

"Hey, what's up?" asked Arizona.

Sage looks at both of them and he asked, "You're my cousins?"

"Yep. Pretty much." Musaki replied.

Sage then looks up at the rest of the Hazards and he asked, "Who are they?"

Cody then clears his throat and said, "These are our guests; Takami, Tamaki, Ryo, Skyler, Kiba, Faith, Hope, Layla and Kaizer. They all live in the Jade Palace."

"Oh, I've heard about the Jade Palace before. It's where that Master Shifu lives, right?" asked Sage.

"And the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five." Takami finished off.

Sage then turns to Takami and asked, "Was anybody even talking to you?"

Takami could see that Sage definitely has some anger issues and Cody looks up at him and he said, "Do not start."

"I'm not starting anything." Sage said, angrily.

"Cool it."

Sage then turns to Takami and he said, "Sorry. Yeah, I don't really give a crap about those masters because they're posers."

That set off an awkward moment between them and Musaki told him, "They're not posers. They're the real deal."

Sage scoffs at this and he said, "Yeah, if they're the real deal, how come I haven't seen them?"

Max comes up to Sage and he said, "Please don't start a fight."

Sage turns to Max and he glared at him in a menacing look and he said, "Get away...before I ram you."

Faith didn't seem to take this the right way and she went in front of Sage and said, "I don't even know you, but don't make threats to Max like that."

"What, is he your boyfriend?" Sage growled.

"That's enough!"

All of them turned around and saw Mako standing there, listening to every word and he went up to Sage and said, "You are starting to scare off our guests...and your new cousins. We have set up some ground rules in this house and while you're living here, you have to abide by our rules and what we do here."

Sage didn't really say much and just brooded a little bit and Mako stared at him in a stern look that tells him he's not gonna stand for it and he said, "Apologize."

"Are you serious?" asked Sage.

"Apologize...right now."

Sage could tell that he's serious about this and he lets out a deep sigh, turns to everyone and he said, "I'm sorry for almost losing my temper...and making small threats."

Mako then turns to everyone and he said, "You should excuse Sage. He's new to this environment here and doesn't know how to adapt to it easily nor to deal with people who's not in his position."

"Sounds like a certain white tiger that I know very well." Hope added.

Kaizer slowly turns to Hope with that type of response and he asked, "Did ya have to go there?"

"What if me and Arizona help him out a little bit? We'll help him get used to a new surrounding and get to know him a little bit." Musaki stated.

Mako chuckled softly at this and he said, "I'm gonna need all the help I can get. Much appreciated, Xing-Fu."

"Anytime."

After that, they left Mako's place and Skyler then said, "Well, that was interesting."

"Yeah, I think we may have found both Ryo's and Kaizer's match." Skyler stated.

Both Ryo and Kaizer felt severely annoyed to be compared with Sage's temper and anger problems and Ryo said, "Now that's pushing it too far, Sky."

"Even I agree with that." Kaizer stated.

* * *

So...what did you guys make of Sage? Hazards, weigh in and stick around for more!


	71. Riding on a Dragon

Musaki takes the Hazards for a little surprise...little did they know...

* * *

Riding on a Dragon

Near the outskirts of the Valley of Peace, Musaki, Arizona, Max and the other Hazards were walking across the forest closer to the Valley to do a little bit of walking around and a couple of minutes into the trip, Skyler asked Musaki, "When do we see this surprise?"

Musaki lets out a little smirk from behind and he said, "You're gonna love it, Skyler. Trust me."

Skyler could tell that this was gonna be something that's gonna be both unusual and somewhat weird, but even more weird is that Musaki knows that something's going down and she was a little bit anxious to know what's gonna happen.

Max has ridden on Arizona's shoulders to get a clear view of everything...but mostly because he's a little tired of walking around and Arizona asked, "You okay up there?"

"Uh-huh. Pretty good so far." Max replied.

"We'll get there in a few minutes, Maxie." Arizona said, with a smile.

Kaizer clears his throat and said, "And where is 'there', exactly?"

Arizona turns to Kaizer and he replied, "Musaki said it's gonna be a surprise. Don't spoil it, Kai."

Hope nudged on Kaizer's shoulder and he said, "Yeah, what's the fun in telling what the surprise is? It wouldn't even be a surprise."

"But wouldn't you want to know?" asked Kaizer.

Hope lets out a little smile and he tells Kaizer, "It's better to be surprised than to know what the surprise is before the actual surprise."

Finally, after a few minutes of walking around, they managed to make it to this one particular spot that they're sure to reel in the surprise and Takami looks up and asked, "This is it?"

"Yep." Arizona replied.

They looked around and saw that this is just a big empty forest space with mounds of trees and stuff and Ryo asked, "This is the surprise?"

"Actually...the surprise is coming in a few minutes." Musaki replied.

It didn't take long until they heard a distant roar come out of nowhere and most of the Hazards were a little petrified, but startled and Layla asked, "What was that?"

"Just a little friend of ours." Musaki added.

Just then, the roar went closer and closer and the Hazards were completely shocked that they saw 12 dragons coming in from the sky and landing on the ground and all jaws were on the ground except for Max, Arizona and Musaki.

Kaizer lets out a soundless gasp as he saw them standing there and he asked, "Are those...dragons?"

"Surprise!" Max exclaimed.

Kiba chuckled nervously and asked, "They're not gonna eat us, right?"

Arizona chuckled softly and he said, "Nah, you're not gonna be eaten."

Kiba lets out a huge sigh of relief and placed his hand oer his chest and said, "Thank goodness."

"You're gonna ride with one." Musaki finished.

Kiba then drops his jaw in shock and ends up fainting after hearing this come out of Musaki's mouth and Takami asked, "Ride with a dragon?"

"Don't worry. They're perfectly trained." Musaki reminded him.

"Mako uses them for traveling to and from Shanghai Secluded Valley or wherever they want to go. It definitely beats walking when we reach a dangerous mission somewhere." Arizona said.

Faith seemed a little bit unsure about this whole thing and she said, "Are they even safe?"

"One way to find out..."

They pretty much knew that it means that they'll have to actually ride in one and Musaki gave them a few straps and safety rope to keep them from falling off and one-by-one, the Hazards reluctantly puts them off and gets on the dragons with Musaki and Arizona riding the lead dragon.

"Is everyone ready?" asked Musaki.

Kiba lets out a fearful moan and he said, "Ready to dump myself."

"In any events, do not freak out, pee, do number two, cry or vomit when riding the dragon. If you forgot to do those things before you're on the dragon, sucks to be you." Musaki added.

Takami tries to not let his nervousness get the best of him and hopes that he'll get used to this when deep inside, he feels like he's gonna freak out.

"All right. Let's do this." Arizona said.

The hazards were completely nervous about what's gonna happen next as the dragons began making their first step and all of them followed suit as they're going through this one cliff and their wings came flying in and as the dragons leaped off, they were ready for takeoff as they reached for the skies.

Kiba was getting a little scared a he clinged onto Ryo for dear life and Ryo taps him on the shoulder, telling him to get off and Kiba looks down on the ground and he lets out a few moans and said, "I'm gonna pee..."

"If you pee on me, you're not gonna like what I do to you." Ryo growls.

Most of the hazards were a little afraid about this, but as they did a few couple of tricks and the feeling of feeling, they slowly started to get used to it a little bit. Takami, Tamaki and Skyler were the ones that are actually enjoying it and Faith, Hope and Kaizer were letting down every ounce of fear an replaced them with excitement.

Layla felt like she was completely cool with it and enjoyed the whole ride while Ryo and Kiba were a little used to it...mostly Kiba because he did have this feeling like he was really flying. Kiba chuckled softly and said, "Hey...this isn't bad. You could like see everything from down here."

Ryo looks down and he was actually surprised at this and he lets out a chuckle and said, "Yeah...you're right."

Musaki had a sense that they're starting to get used to it and he then began motioning the dragon to fly through the clouds and most of the dragons twirled through the skies and the Hazards were having the time of their lives with it and they all formed together as they flew towards the Valley of Peace and as they flew past there, their one place is the Jade Palace where they're circling around the top of the rooftops and landed back up to the skies and they nosedived all the way down and as they almost made it near, they flew back up to the skies one-by-one and onto the courtyard.

Musaki, Arizona and Max got off the lead dragon and the Hazards got off there and Kiba was definitely stoked up and said, "That was freaking awesome!"

"Yeah, I actually enjoyed it...if ya like that sort of thing." Kaizer agreed.

"I'd like to do that again." Faith said.

Just then...Musaki looks up and he didn't notice that the Furious Five were standing there, speechless to see actual dragons in the courtyard and that's where he had this idea.

He walks up to them and with a smirk on his face, he brought in a few safety ropes to show them and he said, "Who's ready to fly?"

* * *

Was that surprising or what? Hazards, tell me how you described riding on a dragon for the first time! And stay tuned for more!


	72. Arizona vs Faith

Let's see if Arizona can spar with a cheetah!

* * *

Arizona vs. Faith

At the Training Hall, Arizona and Faith were each using some training equipment to increase their training skills and gain some more exercise and for some reason, both of them have got undeniable radical skills; Arizona's specialty is use the training equipment to no end and trained just as hard while Faith does the same, but hones in well on her ice powers very well.

Arizona takes a deep breath as he punches the dummy much harder and his strength increased quite larger than ever and that was something that interested Faith a little bit. She lets out a little smirk and she said to him, "Hard to believe you've been here for almost a year."

"Yeah, I'm more surprised than you are." Arizona agreed.

She then came from behind and asked him, "Bet you can't take down a cheetah."

Arizona stopped in his tracks, then slowly turned to a smirking, but headstrong Faith and he figured that he was definitely challenged by her and asked, "You asking for a sparring session?"

"You've sparred pretty much most of my friends...and Hope too. So, why not me?" asked Faith.

Arizona wasn't sure about this particular sparring, but noticing that he was gonna spar with her sparked his interest and he puts on his serious face and said, "Well...you seem like an innocent girl, but I can tell you'll kick my butt."

"That's my specialty." Faith said, with a smirk.

Arizona chuckled softly at this and he said, "I'll accept that challenge. May the best fighter win."

Both Faith and Arizona took glances at each other and Faith did her basic stance move and Arizona did his best kung-fu pose to get himself ready and soon enough, Arizona came running in first to leap at her, but Faith did a backflip and kicks Arizona in the jaw and in the shin hard.

As Arizona fell down, he was definitely surprised that she had some moves though never used by her and when he stood up, he said, "Good one."

"Thanks, but save your comments when I beat your tail." Faith added.

Arizona lets out a small growl and is determined to get her at all costs and he went forward and charged at her, punching and kicking her in every which way possible, but Faith dodged it very quickly and she immediately slid underneath his legs and bashed him from behind. Arizona refused to be beaten by a cheetah and wanted to win this match and he completely went all out.

Arizona kicked and flipped her all the way down, but Faith did the exact same thing, but used his tail and swing him around and bit on it, making Arizona howl in pain and then kick his butt towards the wall.

Arizona gets himself back up and he immediately went over to her and kicked and swung her down as hard as he went and he thought that he'll receive victory after this, but he was proven wrong when Faith slid behind him and knocked him down on his head and pinned him straight to the wall.

Both of them were panting heavily and Arizona looks up at her and he said, "Tough cheetah."

"That's what I'm built for. Sometimes...cheetahs outdo wolves." Faith replied.

"Oh...is that what you think?" asked Arizona.

He then shoves her down to the ground and just as Faith is set to fight back, she saw that Arizona was nowhere to be seen...or so she thought. He grabs onto the ceiling of the Training Hall and waits for the perfect moment to pin her down and while she slowly walks to find Arizona, the grey wolf wasted no time and surprise her and did a handstand and gets off the railing and grabbed her down the floor, tumbling around and pins her down.

"You were saying?" asked Arizona, with a smirk.

Faith pants heavily and she told him, "Very clever."

Arizona pants heavily and he wipes off his sweat coming from his brow and he said, "Looks like we're both stronger than we thought."

"That I can agree with." Faith said.

"Hey, are you two gonna kiss?"

Arizona and Faith looks up and saw Kiba standing there, watching the two being pinned and Faith responded, "We were sparring."

"Who won?" asked Kiba.

"I did." Arizona replied.

Faith lets out a scoff and muttered to herself, "Boys..."

* * *

Who do you think won? Faith and Kiba...the spotlight belongs to you guys! Back with more!


	73. Meeting Mama Skyfang Again

Nothing like Max and Arizona meeting all of the Skyfang clan...again.

* * *

Meeting Mama Skyfang...Again

At the village, Arizona and Max were walking alongside Takami and Tamaki to head to the Skyfang house and Takami was eager to see his mom and sister and Max asked, "Am I gonna see Kaila?"

"Yeah, you are. And meet my mom." Takami replied.

Arizona chuckled softly and he said to Takami, "I haven't seen her in a while."

Tamaki looks up at Arizona by that response and he said, "She's been busy for sometime...with her job at Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop and taking care of us and always making sure Takami has enough clean underwear to last a week."

Takami glared at Tamaki by making that kind of statement and he asked, "Really, bro? You had to go there, didn't you?"

Max began to snicker at that last part and tried his best keep his laughter stifled, but Takami already heard Max snicker and he turned to him and said, "Not funny, Max."

"I'm sorry." Takami said.

"What's life at home like for you guys?" asked Arizona.

Tamaki was the first one to answer that question and he replied, "Depends on if it's peaceful or crazy. In my case, it's towards the latter part."

"Only when I'm not around." Takami corrected him.

Tamaki scoffs at this and said, "Sure..."

Minutes later, they finally made it to the house and after all four of them came in, Arizona and Max were totally surprised at how it really looks like from the inside and since they have never set foot inside the Skyfang house, the reaction from them was full of amazement and in awe.

"This is your home?" asked Arizona.

Tamaki looked up at Arizona and he replied, "Yep, this is home. It's a little crazy, but we're adjusting well."

Soon enough, Okami walks across the hallway and to her surprise, she sees both Tamaki and Takami come in with Arizona and Max and almost immediately, she gave both of them a huge hug and said, "This is definitely a surprise to see you boys!"

Takami chuckled softly in response as he looked at his mom and said, "Nice to see you again, mom."

She examined her son for a second and she said, "Takami...you're so skinny. When was the last time you've eaten?"

"Uh...lunch?" replied Takami.

Okami then sees Arizona and Max standing there and she said to them, "Hello, we meet again."

Arizona comes up and gives Okami a handshake and said, "Nice to see you again, Mrs. Skyfang."

"Please...Okami will do just fine. I haven't been Mrs. Skyfang ever since my husband tried to kill my Takami." Okami stated.

Okami then went down to Max's level and she patted his head and said, "Hello, little Maxie...how are you?"

"I'm okay, Miss Okami." Max replied, with his hands on his pockets.

Tamaki chuckled softly and he said, "I think Max ought to be a Skyfang."

Arizona laughs sarcastically at this and he replied, "Nice try, Tamaki."

Soon enough, Kaila walks into the kitchen and she sees her two brothers standing there and she said, "Hey, guys."

"Hey, sis." Takami said.

Tamaki smiled and said, "Hope you haven't gotten too boy crazy yet."

Kaila laughed sarcastically at Tamaki's words and she replied, "Very funny, Tamaki. Maybe if you had a girlfriend, maybe you wouldn't be such a doofus."

Takami snickered at this and he said, "You got smoked."

Kaila then turns and sees Arizona and Max there and she went up to both of them and she said to Arizona, "Hey, welcome to our home."

"Thanks, Kaila. How's it going?" asked Arizona.

"Pretty good."

Then, she looks up at Max and she couldn't be anymore excited to see him and said, "Hi, Max!"

"Hi, Kaila." Max said, in a shy voice.

Okami notices that Max has a slight crush on Kaila and she lets out a smile and said, "That's so cute to see. Think she'll be your girlfriend, Max?"

Takami was definitely surprised to hear this come out of his mom's mouth and he said, "I don't know about that."

"She's too old for you, Maxie." Tamaki commented.

Kaila looks up at all of them and she replied, "We're just best friends. Besides, I've only got Kovu as my crush."

Arizona lets out a little whistle in response and he said, "That's...interesting."

"Hey, Max...let's head to Tamaki's room. He's got a lot of good stuff in there." Max said, bringing him to the stairs.

"Whoa...hold on. Do not get anywhere near my room." Tamaki exclaimed, following both of them.

Okami chuckled softly and then turns to Arizona and Takami and asked, "Anyone wants some lunch?"

"Mom...I already ate." Takami replied.

"Takami...you're barely skin and bones. You need to fatten yourself up a little bit and I an't let you go back to the Jade Palace with a thin stomach." Okami suggested.

"Tigress does."

"And I suppose if Master Tigress jumped off the Great Wall, you'd do it too?" Okami asked.

Takami bit his lip with that answer and said, "Only if bandits surrounded the place."

Arizona then heads to the kitchen while Okami told him, "You're eating and that's final."

As Takami made his way to the hallway, Arizona then tells him, "Your mom seems cool."

* * *

That's impressive. Skyfangs, weigh in! And stay tuned!


	74. What Are You Afraid Of?

Max plays another guessing game with the Hazards and we hit the fear part.

* * *

What Are You Afraid Of?

Max is sitting next towards the Hazards, Musaki and Arizona and they shared jokes and laughed with each other at the Peach Tree and most of them were completely amazed by Max's moves and even Kaizer was impressed by what he's gotten.

Kaizer chuckled softly and he said, "Pretty strong for someone like you."

"Thanks." Max replied.

Just then, Max sat down between Arizona and Kaizer and he asked, "You guys wanna know what I'm afraid of?"

Kiba quickly turned to Max for a second and replied, "What?"

"Monsters. Like sometimes when I sleep at night, I'm always afraid that there are monsters coming out to get me." Max replied.

Everyone was a little surprised to hear this coming from him and Arizona said, "Wow...that's what you're afraid of?"

"That and getting lost." Max added.

Arizona lets out a big sigh and he faced the others and said, "Well, what I'm most afraid of is someone trying to harm my little tiger brother and each time that Max is in danger, I always have this fear that what if...what if I showed up too late to save him? Like...that's something that I wouldn't get rid of."

Kaizer looks up at Arizona in a sympathy look and he asked, "You'd never forgive yourself if that ever happened?"

"No. I'd never forgive myself." Arizona said, softly.

Max puts his hand on Arizona's shoulder and with a smile, he said, "You don't have to worry about me, Arizona. Nothing bad's gonna happen to me."

Arizona was a little bit doubtful, but those words helped ease them away and he gives Max a little noogie and said, "Who else would I give a noogie to?"

Max laughed at this and he said, "You still would."

Musaki lets out a smile and really liked the bond between Arizona and Max and he knew that it's something that will never be broken and then he turned to the Hazards and said, "What I'm most afraid of is something that I'd been having for 4 years...like what if the masters from the Jade Palace don't want me around anymore. Like...if they reject me or something. That would be severely painful to me."

Takami raised an eyebrow in response to that and he said, "You've been afraid of that for 4 years?"

"Since I was 13." Musaki replied.

Takami could understand what that meant to him and he had felt the same way when he was a cub and he turned over to Musaki and said, "I had the same fear as you did. Only...much more different. Like, what would happen if they didn't want me around because I'm a pyro-freak or a monster. It's always been on my mind years before coming here."

"And now you've been accepted. That's the best thing to happen, T.K." Ryo said, happily.

Takami lets out a little smile about it and he knew Ryo had a good point in what he had meant and he has been very lucky and fortunate to have what he had have for so long that he had forgotten those kinds of fears he had and it turned out well for him. He chuckled and said, "Thanks, Ryo."

Ryo nodded his head and he then said, "Well...my fear has always been the same; losing control of my dark powers. It's always been on the back of my mind like what happens if I don't control this power? I would end up hurting all the people I care about...the same way I attempted to do Takami."

Takami saw how sad Ryo became and he puts his hand over his shoulder and he said, "Ryo...I forgave you for that, remember? You will control this power."

"I hope you're right." Ryo said, a little worried.

Skyler clears her throat and she then said, "I'm always afraid of Ryo getting hurt. Like...even though we get on each other's nerves constantly...and I do mean constantly...who else would I fight with? So, I'm always afraid of something bad happening to Ryo."

Ryo felt a little moved by this and he said, "Skyler...that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."

He then reacted by giving her a wet kiss on the cheek, in which she gives him a slap to the head. Ryo rubs his head quickly and asked, "Really?"

"Your kiss is disgusting." Skyler said, rubbing her cheek.

Kiba blinks his eyes twice and then said to the others, "What I'm scared of the most is like...letting my family down. I know I'm a genius, but sometimes...I always have this fear of being compared to my dad or to follow in his footsteps. I want to excel better on weapons to focus on my kung-fu, but it's really hard to think about when I always have a fear of just...failing. That would be over my head for the rest of my life."

"We all have that same fear. And most times, failure is the driving force you need to succeed." Ryo said.

Kiba thought about that deeply and said, "So...to succeed, I must fail?"

"Maybe."

Faith clears her throat and she said, "My fear is...what people would think of me if I dated Hope. Like, I would be too into what others say that a bear dating a cheetah would be unacceptable. But I love him so much...I just can't imagine my life without him."

Hope looks at her in the eyes and said, "You're never gonna lose me. To be honest, my fear has been the same way; being rejected by you. I'm not muscular, good-looking or even strong enough. I'm just...me."

"And that's why I love you, Hope...for who you are and not what anyone expects you to be." Faith said, with a smile.

Hope smiled back too and he said, "Thanks, Faith."

Layla then has her turn to mention her fear and she said, "What I'm most afraid of is losing Takami. What if something happened to him and I'm not there? I'm really scared to lose him."

Takami could see the fear in Layla's eyes and he scooted over to comfort her and said, "I'm right here, Layla...and I always will be. I'll never leave your side no matter what."

The black tigress smiled at Takami and she said, "Thanks. It means a lot."

Kaizer was a little reluctant to tell the others what his fear is and it will diverge into the past and Max noticed that Kaizer was a little silent and he asked, "What are you most afraid of?"

Kaizer looks at Max and he was surprised that he wanted to know what his fear is and he said, My fear...I don't think I should tell you that."

"Aw, come on!" Max said.

"You don't wanna know."

Max froze for a minute after hearing this and he asked, "Is it that bad?"

"Something that you shouldn't understand." Kaizer replied.

Max wanted to ask him more, but Arizona looks up at him and tells him that he shouldn't ask Kaizer more questions about his fear and Max quickly understood what that meant. He then went on to say to the others, "We all have fear in our lives, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't be strong to live without it. The only thing we have to fear is fear in itself. It makes us all stronger in the end, even if it's not very likely."

Everyone pretty much agreed to what Arizona said and remembered to keep that in their lives for as long as they live and Musaki said, "How'd you get to be so wise anyway?"

"I got it from you." Arizona answered.

Musaki froze for a second and received a little light laughter from the Hazards and he said, "Interesting..."

* * *

We all have fear in our lives, but we shouldn't be ashamed of it. Hazards, please weigh in and stick around for more!


	75. First Snow

Being that it's Christmas Eve...I had it prepped for this occasion.

* * *

Snow Day

Early morning in the Jade Palace and Arizona walks around the hallways of the barracks and when he came out, to his surprise...there was snow falling down the ground.

"Whoa..." Arizona whispered.

The snowflakes fell down slowly and as he watched it fall down, he wanted to get a little closer to it as he walks outside of the barracks and experienced it first hand. He lets out a slight chuckle and said, "This is amazing."

"Arizona?"

Arizona turns around and from behind, he saw Master Shifu standing there and he said, "Good morning, master. I was just..."

"Enjoying the snow?" asked Shifu.

"Yeah..."

Shifu chuckled at this and he said, "Well...I just gave my students some time off due to the snow, so feel free to do whatever you please."

After Shifu left, Arizona was definitely a happy camper to have some days off from training and when he went back inside, he saw Kaizer, Ryo, Kiba and Takami all standing in the hallway and he said, "What's up, guys?"

"We just heard that Master Shifu's giving us some time off." Takami replied.

"And thank goodness. I should be able to get back to sleep." Ryo said, sighing in relief.

Takami scoffs at that and asked, "You mean...plan to sleep naked again."

Ryo began sputtering after hearing what Takami had said and he said in his defense, "T.K...you know I stopped doing that."

"Then, why did you leave your underwear in my room?" asked Takami, when he picked up Ryo's undies.

Kiba began snickering, but immediately received a growl from Ryo and he said, "Say one more word..."

Ryo then grabbed his underwear from Takami and he said, "How did that end up there?"

Arizona clears his throat in hopes to change the subject and he said, "You guys ought to take a look outside."

They followed Arizona all the way outside of the barracks and they saw some snow falling onto the ground, causing the others to be amazed in awe and Kiba asked, "Is that snow?"

"Yep. That's it." Arizona replied.

Takami chuckled softly and he said, "That's pretty cool."

"Wonder what we're gonna do?" asked Kaizer.

30 minutes later...

The Hazards, Musaki and Arizona all went out and got their winter clothing on and decided to have some fun in the snow and they took full advantage to that. Ryo and Kiba started doing some snowball fights whereas Musaki and Arizona did the same as well, chasing each other while pelting some serious snowballs.

Faith, Skyler and Layla all made some snow angels while Hope and Takami made a snow fort in order to keep themselves from being pummeled in snowballs by Ryo, Kiba, Musaki and Arizona. Just as Takami was ready to throw the first snowball, he already got snow thrown at his face courtesy of Ryo, as he laughed hysterically at this.

Takami wiped the snow off of his face, lets out a chuckle and threw it back to him and he lets out a laugh and said, "Take that, Ryo!"

Hope started laughing excitedly and he said, "I haven't done this in so long."

Takami looks up and he said, "Just keep your eyes on the ones throwing snowballs at us. Stay down in the fort at all times and don't give yourself away. When the time comes, we throw it at them."

"Got it." Hope said.

Just then, Ryo and Kiba threw some snowballs already to aim it at Takami and Hope, but then Hope threw plenty more snowballs along with Takami and Musaki threw some at Kiba and he lets out a whoop and gives Arizona a high-five, but they soon got pelted in snow from under the tree.

They look up and they see Max hanging on there and when he dropped down, he looks up at Arizona and Musaki and said, "Let's get them!"

"We got backup!" Arizona shouted.

Max threw in a snowball and chucked it to Ryo's face pretty quick and Arizona said, "Good shot, Maxie!"

"Thanks." Max added.

Ryo shook off all the snow and began throwing more snowballs and threw it at Hope several times. Hope chuckled softly and said, "You're gonna get it!"

Hope made the biggest snowball he could make and threw it back to Ryo, but instead...Ryo ducked down and it landed on the back of Kaizer's head instead. Once Hope realized he had hit Kaizer, he was pretty scared that he's more likely to get pummeled in the face. Kaizer turns around and he asked, "Who threw the snowball?!"

Ryo and Kiba quickly pointed towards Hope and Kaizer walked onto his fort and glared angrily at him and Hope said, "I am so sorry..."

"Yeah, I bet you are..." Kaizer growls.

Hope braced himself for a beating, but instead...he received snow in his face and Kaizer started laughing and said, "Gotcha."

Hope then noticed that Kaizer was joking for the first time and he said, "Well, eat snow!"

Hope threw plenty snowballs at Kaizer and he threw some back to Kaizer and Takami...all while Arizona, Max, Ryo, kiba and Musaki threw them at each other...and Ryo threw some at Skyler's back.

"No he did not..." Skyler said.

Ryo began laughing hysterically at this and he said, "Snow's a good look for ya, Sky!"

Skyler shook off some snow on her and she scooped up some snow and with assistance from Layla and Faith, they began throwing snowballs at Ryo and all of the others had one heck of a snow day they'll never forget.

"Ah, to be young again..." Shifu said, looking on.

* * *

How was that? On the next one...the Hazards celebrate the holidays for the first time! Think of that as a Christmas present from my awesome online best friend SpiritualLoneWolf XIII! Merry Christmas to all! Hazards, wishing you happy holidays!


	76. First Holiday

The Hazards first time celebrating the holidays! A little present for SpiritualLoneWolfXIII.

* * *

First Holiday

Snow falls down on the Valley of Peace and everyone is getting into the holiday spirit as they pull out several decorations all across the village to enjoy the major festivities. And up in the Jade Palace, there's no exception.

The masters pull out a whole lot of holiday decorations to make the palace more festive and christmas-like to celebrate the holidays a lot more. Most of the hazards were helping out as well and the same goes for Musaki and Arizona as they decked it all with decorations.

Takami chuckled softly as he looks at all the decorations he pulls out and said, "This looks really good."

"Yeah, I'll say." Arizona agreed.

Takami then asked most of the masters, "What do you guys normally do in this season?"

Viper comes up to Takami and she replied, "We celebrate Winter Feast. It's pretty much the most festive tradition in the Jade Palace."

Ryo widened his eyes and asked, "How festive?"

"It's very delicate, sophisticated and perfect." Tigress finished.

Ryo tilted his head in confusion after that response and he said, "Not too sophisticated, I hope. That's what I stink at the most."

"Above everything else." Skyler muttered.

Ryo rolled his eyes in response to that and he just continued helping out and just then, Po comes in the room and says, "Happy holidays, my friends!"

Musaki looks up and he said, "Hey, Po!"

Kaizer, Hope and Kiba all came back inside the palace with a humongous tree they're carrying over and they set it down to the ground and Kaizer said, "We would've gotten there sooner if a certain panda slowed us down."

Kaizer glared at Po in response and Po lets out a chuckle and said, "You guys took too long."

Kaizer lets out big sigh and he said, "What's the big deal about the holidays anyway?"

Suddenly, everyone in the palace stopped what they were doing after they heard Kaizer question the holidays and Hope was the most shocked out of all of them and he asked, "You mean...you've never had celebrated the holidays before?"

"Not that I know of."

Po was definitely the one that's in most shock and he said, "Kaizer...the holidays is where you spend time with family, someone you love and also...a chance to get some awesome presents!"

Monkey rolled his eyes in response and said, "You and your presents."

Kaizer looks up at the others and he said, "I still don't understand why people are so happy in this season. Like, what's the purpose?"

Takami clears his throat and he said, "We kinda feel the same way, but why wouldn't we celebrate it the first time?"

Musaki has his turn to respond and he said to Kaizer, "It's the time to celebrate and come together as one. I mean, wouldn't you want that?"

"I don't really know."

Mostly everyone was a little surprised that Kaizer never celebrated the holidays before, especially Musaki and Hope. Hope lets out a sigh and he said, "I wish we could help."

Sometime later...

Musaki, Arizona and most of the Hazards were completely excited for the holidays to come around and Arizona asked them, "Have you guys ever celebrated the holidays before?"

"Pretty much." Faith replied.

"Yeah, like...every year." Kiba replied.

Ryo clears his throat and he said, "To tell you the truth, we've never celebrated the holidays before."

That shocked Musaki to the core and he turned to them and asked, "You too?"

"Never." Skyler replied.

Muskai lets out a deep exhale after this reaction and he figured that he's gonna need much needed assistance to help them celebrate the holidays for the first time and he came up with a simple idea to make this one more memorable.

At the barracks, he told Arizona and Hope to come to his room and he discussed coming up with a plan to help most of the Hazards to help them celebrate the holidays in the biggest way possible. Faith and Kiba overheard everything and they want in on the idea too and all of them agreed to give them something they would most likely remember, but to keep it a surprise, of course.

Most of them went christmas shopping to see which gifts they'd like best and gathered every single item they would really love to have and when they passed Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop, prepping for the Noodle Feast...they knew that it's gonna be a really cool idea to bring them all in together.

A few days later...

The night of the Noodle Feast is looming in and Mr. Ping invited the Furious Five and Master Shifu as special guests along with Musaki, Arizona, the Hazards and many others to come along to join in the festivities and Shifu looks over at most of the Hazards and he said, "Mr. Ping and Po have been doing this Noodle Feast for so long, so it's a good chance to see what they're serving up."

"Really? Po does this?" asked Ryo.

"Yep, even before he became Dragon Warrior. We would've been liked to be the first ones to be served years ago." Monkey said.

Takami lets out a little chuckle and said, "Well...it should be good though."

When they arrived at the Noodle Shop, they were taken by surprise when there was a bunch of people coming in and Takami widened his eyes after seeing this and he said, "Whoa..."

"Look at all those people." Skyler said, in awe.

Ryo couldn't help but notice the smell of noodles around every corner and he wanted to have it so badly and he said, "If this is how it is every year, I'd definitely come here."

Po and Mr. Ping were serving out noodles and both of them saw the masters enter and Po happily served every bowl of noodles to them and greeted them a happy holiday, even the Hazards. They all sat with each other and helped themselves to some soup. As predicted, Ryo was definitely a happy camper when it comes to noodles.

"Why couldn't we have come here when we were kids?" asked Ryo.

Kaizer tasted it a few times and he was completely taken by surprised when he got a taste of it and said, "This is actually good."

"Duh...it's always good, Kai-Kai." Ryo added.

Musaki, Arizona, Kiba, Hope and Faith got together after eating some noodles and agreed to go along with the plan to give the Hazards their very taste of Christmas with random Christmas presents and soon enough, Arizona sees Max coming in and he motioned him to come here and he said, "What's up, little man?"

"Not a lot. My dad invited Kovu and Borko to come here and we all decided to go out and eat some noodles." Max replied.

Arizona chuckled softly as he patted his head and said, "And a happy holiday to you too."

Just then, Kovu and Borko showed up at the Noodle Shop with Mako and some of the kids as well and when Kovu and Borko went towards Takami, he said, "Happy holiday, Takami!"

Takami was definitely surprised to see both Kovu and Borko coming here and he said, "Hey, you guys."

"Can you believe that this is our first holiday?" asked Kovu.

Ryo smiled at this and said, "We're pretty much ecstatic about this."

Borko nodded his head in agreement and he said, "Max had invited us to come in and see what this is all about and we thought that maybe Takami and the others might be here and here we are."

Skyler smiled at them and said, "We're really glad you're here."

Later that evening, in comes Okami, Kaila and Tamaki coming inside the Noodle Shop and the same with Chronos and Zack as they appeared together to surprise Takami and Ryo and as soon as they showed up at their table, they were most definitely surprised.

"Happy holidays, guys!"

Chronos chuckled softly and he said, "Looks like this is the first time we all get to celebrate the holidays together as family."

"You said it." Ryo agreed.

Takami looks up at his mom and said, "I'm surprised you're here."

Okami smiled at her son and she said, "This is our very first holiday together and we thought why not?"

Tamaki gives Takami a little playful punch on the arm and said, "How'd you like?"

Takami rubs his shoulder and chuckled a little and said, "It's growing on me."

Sooner or later, Musaki, Arizona, Hope, Faith and Kiba each gave most of their friends a few gifts to give out and for Takami; he's got himself a black and white chinese vest with a tiger's eye in the center, Ryo; wristbands and a pair of sais; for Skyler; a yin-yang hoodie and for Kaizer; a dragon samurai sword...in which made Kaizer blown away for this.

Takami chuckled softly and said, "You guys...you didn't have to give us all of this."

Kiba smiled and said, "But we want to. You guys are our friends and we just wanted to give you the holiday spirit you never had before."

"I think you already gave us a gift." Skyler chimed in.

Arizona blinked at this and asked, "What's that?"

"Friendship."

The thought of it completely made them really happy to know that their friendship is a gift that could not be bought and with that, everyone comes around and hugs each other and Hope comes up and gives Kaizer a hug too. At first, he was a little reluctant to accept it, but he hugged him back as he lets out a little smile in response.

"Happy holidays, everyone!"

* * *

Merry Christmas to all and to all an awesome night! Stick around for more!


	77. Elemental Rock Show

The Hazards show Musaki and Arizona that they're more than just a couple of masters-in training.

* * *

Elemental Rock Show

One day at the village, Musaki and Arizona wanted to know what the Hazards were up to and as soon as they came out, they were surprised to see this stage in front of them and both of them were confused as to what's going on.

Suddenly, they see Takami walk towards the stage and he sees Musaki and Arizona standing by and he said, "What do you guys think?"

"Is this what you guys have been doing?" asked Arizona.

Takami chuckled and he said, "Pretty much. We thought that maybe we'd like to show you guys what we do."

Ryo then walks through the stage with mounds of instruments all set up and he said, "We're not just kung-fu masters in training, but also rockers."

Not long after, the gang showed up with themselves fully equipped and ready to show Musaki and Arizona their awesome show and Takami said, "This is a little something that I've written when I was like 12 and it all relates to us in a big way...me mostly."

"It speaks to our lives and all the things we've been through when we were younger." Ryo added.

"So, I hope you guys like this." Skyler said.

Everyone plays the instruments and Takami began singing in front of both Arizona and Musaki.

_I tried to be perfect_

_But nothing was worth it_

_I don't believe it makes me real_

_I thought it'd be easy_

_But no one believes me_

_I meant all the things I said_

_If you believe it's in my soul_

_I'd say all the words that I know_

_Just to see if it would show_

_That I'm trying to let you know_

_That I'm better off on my own_

_This place is so empty_

_My thoughts are so tempting_

_I don't know how it got so bad_

_Sometimes it's so crazy_

_That nothing can save me_

_But it's the only thing that I have_

_If you believe it's in my soul_

_I'd say all the words that I know_

_Just to see if it would show_

_That I'm trying to let you know_

_That I'm better off on my own_

_On my own!_

They were all unaware that a big crowd was forming as they were rocking out to this song and Takami concluded the final verse of the song.

_I tried to be perfect_

_But nothing was worth it_

_Nothing could ever be so wrong_

_It's hard to believe me_

_It never gets easy_

_I guess I knew that all along_

_If you believe it's in my soul_

_I'd say all the words that I know_

_Just to see if it would show_

_That I'm trying to let you know_

_That I'm better off on my own_

Almost immediately, a huge massive amount of cheers and applause came out of nowhere and Takami looks around and sees the entire Valley cheering for them and him along with Ryo, Kiba and Skyler walked across the stage to see the whole crowd cheering for them.

They look down and see Musaki and Arizona cheering along with them and that made them feel good as they took a bow and smiled at each other and the entire crowd.

"We rocked out today." Kiba said.

* * *

That song was 'Pieces' from Sum 41. Hazards, weigh in! Stick around for more!


	78. Should I Stay or Go

Musaki's choosing whether he should go back to his relatives at Shanghai Secluded Valley or stay in the Valley of Peace? What to do to ease this decision? The Hazards...

* * *

Should I Stay or Go?

Musaki lays down on his mat in th barracks and he looks up at the ceiling, just thinking things over and there was always something that was stuck on his mind for so long...thinking about moving back to Shanghai Secluded Valley and live on his own while doing some kung-fu training on his own. Even though we would love to see his relatives all the time, he was a little afraid to think that he might have to leave the Valley of Peace because it has been a home to him for a long time.

Not only that, but to move out of the Jade Palace too and he worries that the masters might take it the wrong way and react in a different way as Musaki had hoped would react to. But he's torn between staying with his adopted family or leaving the nest on his own to show some independence. He doesn't really know what to do.

Takami, Ryo and Faith were walking past Musaki's room and Takami noticed Musaki feeling a little down and wanted to see if he was okay, so they went in to check on him and Takami said, "Hey, Saki? You okay?"

Musaki sits up and sees them standing there and he said, "Hey, guys."

Faith puts her paw on his shoulder and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Musaki wasn't really sure to tell them he's thinking about moving out of the Jade Palace and live on his own and he replied, "Would you guys be upset if I told you I was thinking about moving out of the Jade Palace?"

That seemed to take them by surprise after hearing that question come out and Ryo was the most surprised out of the three of them and he said, "You're not thinking of leaving us behind, are you?"

"No...I would never leave anyone behind. It's just...something that I've thought about ever since I go to and from Shanghai Secluded Valley for almost 2 years. It would be awesome to actually move back and live there to be close to my relatives, but I'm still worried about leaving this place because how would the masters react." Musaki replied.

Almost quickly, in comes Skyler, Kaizer, Hope, Kiba and Layla coming in the room and they overheard everything Musaki said and Hope said, "We sorta couldn't help but hear."

"I don't wanna leave the life that I have grown to love; my adopted family, my friends...I don't want them to think I'm leaving forever." Musaki added.

Takami could see where this is going and he said to him, "Saki...you'll always have your family and friends here. Nothing will change that. But you gotta do what you want to do. It's what you want to do."

Hearing that puts a little dagger in his heart knowing that it's his choice and on one hand, he does want to be his own person and live independently, but on the other hand...he's been adapting well in the Jade Palace and that most of the masters have stayed there for 10 or 20 years, maybe more and that adds a little bit of pressure. Musaki then said, "But...what would the masters think? I don't wanna feel like I hurt them."

"I'm quite sure they will understand if you told them. You have to do what makes you happy, not what makes everyone else happy." Faith added.

He knew that Faith was right about that part and Musaki said, "All I want to do is make them proud of me."

"We already are."

All of them turned around and saw only Shifu standing there, overhearing everything and as he went towards Musaki, he looked at him and said, "Musaki, you've shown me a lot over the years you've been here. Each time, you've grown and matured into a fine young man that never ceases to amaze me with your skills. I believe you'll have much success as a kung-fu master without us and whatever it is you decide, know that me and my students will always be proud of you."

Musaki lets out a smile after hearing that and it did help ease his worries a little and said, "Thanks...dad."

Musaki realized what he just called him and he said, "I meant...Master Shifu."

Kiba then went forward and said, "When are you leaving?"

"When I'm like either 18 or 21...like when I get older, so I'll have a little more time left." Musaki answered.

Shifu nodded his head and said, "That is perfectly fine. I'm sure we will make those years count."

"I know we will." Musaki added

'I will miss you very deeply...my son.' Shifu thought.

* * *

Nothing like good friends to help you out in time of need. Hazards, weigh in...and maybe let the Furious Five and Po weigh in on their thoughts of Musaki thinking about moving out of the Jade Palace to live with his relatives in the future. Stick around for more!


	79. A Visit from Musaki's Relatives

Thought that I'd like for the Hazards to meet Musaki's relatives and for Musaki himself to meet some new ones.

* * *

A Visit from Musaki's Relatives

One afternoon in the courtyard, Musaki and Arizona were watching as Tigress spars with Takami to determine if their strengths outdo the other and as they were sparring, Musaki muttered to Arizona's ear, "Bet ya five almond cookies to say Takami wins."

"I'd say 10." Arizona whispered.

"15."

Layla clears her throat and glares at both Musaki and Arizona for making some bets about who wins and she said, "Enough already. Can you guys not bet?"

"Sorry." they both said, in unison.

Layla then takes a deep sigh after that, then whispers back to them, "Can you bet 20?"

"25 or nothing." Arizona quickly answered.

Shifu looks over all three of them and gave out his most stern glare directed at them and he said, "You've got to stop hanging around Monkey and Po when it comes to betting. It's the most ridiculous."

"Sorry, master."

Soon enough, Tigress took him by the uppercut, but Takami quickly dodges her by jumping as further as he'll go and when it came for her to attack him, Takami miraculously slides between her legs and then kicks her from behind, planting his foot towards his stomach.

Musaki was definitely awestruck by how he managed to make that move very well and he said, "Insanity!"

"You've outsmarted your own teacher." Ryo said, cheering for him.

Takami lets out a heavy pant and he looks up and sees a very surprised and jaw-dropped Master Shifu standing there and he said, "It seems as though your strength has grown so quickly. You merely overshadowed Tigress's skills."

To hear that sends a little bit of worry towards that statement and he asked, "Is that a good thing?"

"You beat your own teacher at something she could've done years ago." Shifu concluded.

Takami removes his foot off of her stomach and as she stood up, she glared at him and said, "I've seen better. But I guess I can't argue with your skills."

"Who taught you how to do that?" asked Kiba.

Takami looks up at them and replied, "From Musaki, Arizona and Max. But mostly Max, so..."

Arizona widened his eyes at that answer and he lets out a smile and said, "You learned something from my tiger brother? That's awesome."

All of a sudden, in comes a few individual figures coming into the courtyard and one said, "Hey, is this the Jade Palace?"

"Who wants to know?" asked Shifu, a little suspicious.

The individual figures lets out a chuckle and said, "Very funny, Shifu."

Musaki was familiarized by the person's voice and he stood up and asked, "Kato?"

Just thenm the hood comes down and reveals that it was indeed Kato, his cousin. He chuckled softly and said, "Remember me?"

Musaki quickly comes over to him and he said, "What up, Kato?'

Both pandas come by and hugged each other tightly and then, another individual pulls out his hood and revealed that it as his brother, Zeke. Musaki noticed that Zeke's here and said, "Hey, bro!"

And another individual pulls off his hood and revealed to be a teenage white tiger; between 17 or 18 years of age, stands at 6'2, weighs at 168 pounds, hazel-gold eyes and wears grey pants and a dark blue shirt with a chinese symbol on the side and a tattoo on his forehead and he said, "You Musaki?"

Musaki looks up at the white tiger and he asked, "Yeah, who are you?"

"I'm your new cousin, Kagi."

Musaki dropped his jaw in shock when he noticed that he had a white tiger for a cousin and he said, "Hey, that's awesome! Nice to actually meet you!"

Kagi hugged Musaki deeply and he lets out a chuckle and said, "I know we just met, but I've heard a lot about you by your grandparents. Your dad's sister is my adopted mom."

"That's pretty cool. I have another tiger as a cousin." Musaki said, happily.

And a fourth individual took off his hood and revealed to be a snow leopard, about between 16 or 17 years of age, stands at 6'1, weighs at 170 pounds, orange eyes and only wears light blue pants and stood between Musaki and Kagi and he said, "I'm also your cousin...Takoda."

"It's actually nice to meet you." Musaki said, shaking his hand.

"And for the record...I am not related to Tai Lung." Takoda stated.

Musaki chuckled at this and he said, "Glad to hear it."

A simple sound of Shifu clearing his throat caught his attention quickly and Musaki completely forgot that they were still standing there and he said, "I am so sorry. Guys, most of you might remember my twin brother, Zeke and my cousin Kato."

"Hey, Shifu, everyone." Zeke said.

Shifu bowed to Zeke and he said, "It's great to see you again, Young Zeke...you too, Kato."

Kato bowed back to Shifu as well and said, "Good to see you again, Master.

"And these are my new cousins: Takoda and Kagi." Musaki said.

Takoda and Kagi waved at all of them and bowed to them as well and then, Kagi looks over and sees Viper there and he said, "Master Viper...I am such a big fan of you!"

Viper smiled at Kagi in response and said, "Thank you. It's very nice to hear."

Takoda then looks over and said, "Well, I'm also a big fan of Monkey and Po. They're both my favorites...like my top three favorite kung-fu masters."

The Hazards went over to all of them and one-by-one introduced themselves and Takoda and Kagi gladly met them and Kato said, "We thought we'd come by and let Musaki know that Zeke's doing well and to meet our new cousins. I hope we weren't interrupting anything."

"Not at all. Like I said, anyone who's Musaki's relatives are always welcome here." Shifu added.

"Saki's got a cool family." Takami said.

* * *

Hazards, what did you think of Musaki's relatives? Stick around for more!


	80. Best of Friends

The gang's perspective of being best friends forever.

* * *

Best of Friends

At the training hall, Musaki, Arizona and the Hazards were training together with Max, Kovu and Borko participating as well and Arizona chose Ryo as his sparring partner and as they sparred, Ryo could see that Arizona's gotten a lot more stronger than he ever thought he could be and that his skills were definitely increasing with every single move he makes. Arizona makes a few punches and kicks directed to Ryo, but the blackish wolf quickly dodged them like it was nothing and sought to fight back.

Meanwhile, Musaki and Kiba sparred with each other and Musaki has ultimately gained a lot more stamina and mental strength while sparring with Kiba and as he continued on, Kiba was definitely surprised to see how much his skills have grown and how he's really amazed to have Musaki as his sparring partner.

Kaizer was planning to put Max to the test on his skills by blocking his punch and Max gained a little bit strength to punch and kick Kaizer's paws in every which way he could go. Kaizer was definitely surprised that this cub knows his skills, almost as if he was a pro at the age of 8.

Soon enough, everyone was working twice as hard and training many more times than the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior combined. The masters looked on to see their progress and most of them were impressed...and a little bit shocked that they're so good at such a young age and Po said, "I have a feeling that these guys might outdo us with skills like that."

Tigress couldn't help but notice that feeling, despite the fact that what Po said was a little bit bogus. However, it doesn't mean that he made a solid point on that and she was almost surprised to see Takami growing a lot more stronger in a lot of ways...maybe even stronger than her.

Shifu watched their progress play out and he had seen enough and called them together to come forward and said to them, "All of you have done phenomonally excellent together with your training. I'm a little surprised that Max has even kept up a little bit than some of you. But regardless, you've proved to me and my students that your work ethic is on point."

"Thank you, master." they all said, bowing to him.

"And with that, you're dismissed." Shifu said, with a smile as he walks off.

At the courtyard

Max, Kovu and Borko were all talking and laughing amongst themselves while the others did the same thing as well and Arizona pretty much felt like he was a part of the Hazard's circle and around them...they're like his own extended family.

"So let me get this straight...you and Kiba were running around the village in a fairy costume, saying that you guys are fairies?" asked Arizona.

Ryo shuddered at the memory of that happening and he said, "That's something I would really like to forget."

"I've never been embarassed like I never felt embarassed in my whole life." Kiba agreed.

Musaki tried his best not to snicker, but he couldn't resist the urge to and he asked, "How did you guys even...?"

"We lost a bet." Ryo replied, with a growl.

Arizona wanted to get to the heart of that particular story and he said, "I wanna hear the bet."

"I think it's safe to say that you don't wanna know." Kiba stated.

Ryo agreed with what Kiba said because it's just too embarassing to even mention and Skyler snickered at this and said, "You did seem kinda cute when one part of your butt cheeks was seen."

Ryo dropped his jaw in shock and he groans in embarassment and said, "Please tell me you didn't."

Musaki was also laughing too and he said, "Man, you guys are funny."

Meanwhile, Max and Kovu were playing with a few marbles and as they gathered them up, Max flicked one onto one of Kovu's and bounced back and Kovu was a little bit surprised at how Max does it and he asked, "How'd you get so good at this?"

"My dad and I...we play marbles most of the time." Max replied.

Borko chuckled softly and he said, "I bet. Have you ever beta your dad at any game?"

Max tried to think of one time he did and a memory came to mind and responded, "I beat him playing checkers."

Kovu and Borko gasped in disbelief and Kovu was the first one to say, "You did not."

"No, I did. I'm like...the bestest checkers player in the world." Max replied.

Borko was wide-eyed in response and was definitely surprised by that and he asked, "How many times did you beat him?"

"15 times."

"Whoa..."

Kovu chuckled at this and said, "You could beat Tigress!"

Takami overheard this and he turned to Kovu and asked, "Beat Tigress at what?"

"Checkers." Borko chimed in.

That seemed to gain Kaizer's attention pretty quickly and he asked, "You play checkers, Max?"

"Mm-hmm." Max said.

Takami whistles in response and said, "Kid's good at everything it seems."

Arizona nods his head in agreement and he said, "Yep. Even on the first try, Max can somewhat learn so quickly."

"Just like Po...except if he were a panda." Musaki added.

"And I'm also good at a few moves." Max said, as he breaks out the moves.

He pulls in some kung-fu moves that Arizona taught him and he was so focused on it, he did an air-kick, backflip and without even noticing, kicking Ryo straight in the privates.

Everyone groaned in response after seeing Ryo getting kicked by an 8 year old and once Max noticed what he just did, he walks over to Ryo and said, "Sorry."

Ryo whimpers in pain as he held onto his wolfhood and falls down to the ground and then, he looks up at Max and said, "Next time, be careful where you kick."

"I really like this kid." Skyler said.

* * *

One more chapter left! Hazards, weigh in...and someone give Ryo an ice pack.


	81. Happy New Year!

The final chapter! And the Hazards get to celebrate the new year!

* * *

Happy New Year!

New Years Eve in the Valley of Peace

At the Jade Palace, the masters were getting ready to embrace the new year and say goodbye to the old one as they make some new goals in their lives and for the Hazards, it's pretty much a means that they need to make some new goals for their personal lives as well as their strengths to gain when it comes to kung-fu.

For the Hazards, it's the first time celebrating the new year together.

Arizona and Musaki walks forward to the Hall of Heroes and seek the others getting themselves prepared for what the new year will bring them and Musaki asked, "So...are you looking forward to this?"

Takami looks up and replied, "I can hardly wait."

"You guys know that when a new year comes, it's time to start new goals, right?" asked Arizona.

"Pretty much." Takami replied.

Musaki nods his head in response and he asked, "What's your guys goals for the new year?"

Takami was the first one to reply to that and he answered, "Get stronger, control my powers and appreciate the journey more with my family and friends."

Ryo was next and he said, "Hopefully to control my dark power so I wouldn't be a threat to anyone, work more on my kung-fu, maybe annoy Skyler again..."

Skyler slowly rolls her head towards Ryo and growled in response and she said, "Would one of those goals be eat less?"

Ryo mocked Skyler's question and he said to her, "I'm sure your goals from the new year will the same one as last years."

"No...for your information; my new goals for the new year...gain more strength, control my powers, train little kids and also...kick your butt each time I get." Skyler responded.

Faith walks towards Arizona and Musaki and she said, "Well...I've got some goals of my own for the new year; be Max's apprentice, enjoy new experiences, protect my friends and spend eevry waking moment with my Phoenix Warrior."

Hope had heard that and he grew really bashful after hearing that and he lets out a simple blush and said, "Aw, shucks."

Arizona chuckled at this and he said, "What about you, Hope? Do you have any goals for the new year?"

"My goals for the new year is to get adjusted to being the Phoenix Warrior, gain some confidence and continue to get support from Faith." Hope replied.

Faith smiled at Hope and she said, "Sounds like a good goal to me."

Kiba went ahead and said, "Wanna hear my goals? Exercise, gain confidence, continue studying weapon mastery, do more pranks..."

"You and your pranks, Kiba." Skyler added, rolling her eyes.

Layla went ahead and repled, "Just to get stronger every second, hopefully go on more missions and stick by Takami's side even more."

The black tigress kissed Takami in the cheek and in response, Takami looked at her in the eye and said, "I like the last goal better."

"Get a room, you two." Arizona added.

Kaizer takes a deep breath and he chimed in on some of his goals for the new year and he said, "For me...continue my duty as the Avenger of Peace, try to leave behind what's left of my past and make up for the future, try not to be as hot-tempered and maybe teach Max a few things about kung-fu."

Arizona smiled in response and said, "You're gonna be a good mentor."

Hope then got in the middle and said, "Is one of those new goals is to kiss Felicity?"

"Shut up, Hope." Kaizer growled.

Layla then turns to Arizona and asked, "What about you? What goals would you have for the new year?"

"My goals are half the same as last year's; get stronger, work harder and continue to challenge myself in more ways than one and also to help out kids in need. That's my new goal, by the way. But mostly to find myself." Arizona replied.

"Great goals. Mine is to spend my last moments at the Jade Palace, work harder and enjoy the journey." Musaki replied.

Arizona widened his eyes at that and he couldn't be more happy for Musaki and he added, "Now they're awesome."

Later on, Musaki, Arizona and the Hazards gathered around with the Five, Master Shifu and Po around to celebrate the new year and Shifu said, "You've all had a very successful year with your training and it definitely showed. Along with our new students, I can assure you the the new year will bring in more success in the future as it lies ahead."

"Yes, master." they all said.

Shifu took a look at Musaki for a second and he said, "I just wanna let you know that I am geniunely proud of you for being the young man you're becoming and as you hit 18, you'll be ready for the world. But that's entirely up to you."

"Thanks...I think." Musaki added.

Later on, everyone gathered around the village to celebrate the new year in the best way possible and they were ready and prepared to say goodbye to the old year and hello to the new. Po gasped in surprise and he said, "It's about to start!"

Everyone in the crowd started counting down backwards as they get themselves ready.

"10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...Happy new year!"

The fireworks flew out of the sky and pops out as everyone began cheering for the start of a new year with no looking back. The masters all celebrated along with the villagers and for Musaki and Arizona, along with Max...nothing was a lot better than celebrating it with the friends he's around with than the Hazards.

"Here it is, guys...the start of a new year." Musaki said.

Takami agreed with that and he said, "Yep. No turning back."

"Let's make it count." Kaizer said.

Everyone puts their paws together to enjoy each and every second like it's their last and they said, "1..2..3...together!"

From that moment on, there will be plenty more adventures with them yet to come because they have the best gift they've gotten; friendship.

* * *

And that is a wrap! Happy New Year, everybody! Let's make an awesome 2013! Thanks to SpiritualLoneWolfXIII for letting me use his OC's for this long-running one-shots. Originally, it was gonna be 102, but trimmed it down to 81. And thanks to everyone who reviewed this! Most appreciated! Let's hope 2013 will be a good year with making new fanfics!


End file.
